


With the Devil on Your Side

by orphan_account



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 27,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: For over four years Klaus has been imprisoned in New Orleans by Marcel, Hayley has taken the other Mikaelsons and fled, searching for a way to save her family. Hundreds of miles away, the devil walks the earth in Mystic Falls. When Hell undergoes a change in leadership, everything changes.Things that are canon: Most of TVD and Seasons 1-3 of TO. The story goes AU during episode 8x14 (i.e. the episode where Kai tries to kill the twins and Cade dies)





	1. Chapter 1

**February 2018**

Matt was talking to Jeremy, who’d been visiting Alaric, when his phone rang. “Bonnie?..... Ok, calm down…. I’ll meet you there.” The sheriff then turned to look at Jeremy. “Bonnie thinks Elena might be in trouble. Her…connection is leading her somewhere. She needs our help.”

* * *

 

“For Jo. That’s what he was gonna say.” Caroline said, looking down at a temporarily deceased Kai Parker. She turned to the other vampire. ”Thanks a lot Val.”

“I guess I kind of owed you one for the whole vervain-skin incident.” Valerie said to Caroline. The last Heretic had returned to town when caroline called to inform her Stefan was having issues adjusting to being human once more.

The blonde was about to respond when her phone rang. “Bonnie? What’s wrong?..... I’ll be right there.” Caroline turned and looked at Alaric. “Damon and Stefan need an assist. You got the girls, right?”

Alaric nodded before Caroline and Valerie sped off.

* * *

 

Cade stared at Damon for a moment before speaking. The elder Salvatore had just promised Cade his soul in return for both Elena and Stefan’s survival. “Are you aware of what you’re offering me?”

“My soul. In eternal anguish. Twisted, black and delicious. Just like you like ‘em. So come on, eat me!”

“I’d like nothing more.” The devil said, before stabbing the bone dagger in his hand into Elena’s coffin and pulling off a chunk of wood. He threw the wood at Damon. “But it requires you being dead.”

“Oh, Damon. Please don’t do this.” Stefan groaned from the ground.

Damon picked up the stake and looked at his younger brother. “Sorry Stef. It’s been a hell of a ride.” Damon then focused on Cade. “Put my girl out first. Then promise me you’ll keep your grubby paws off her soul…permanently.”

Cade turned and the flames engulfing the coffin ceased. “Done. Your move, Damon.”

“Damon, don’t”

“See you in Hell, Cade.”

“No, Damon. “ Stefan shouted.

“Yes. Yes you will.” Cade said smiling at Damon knowingly.

Damon looked at Stefan one last time before plunging the stake he was holding into his heart. “No!” Stefan shouted. Damon grunted and fell to the floor as Cade smiled.

As soon as Cade left, Stefan crawled over to his brother’s body and pulled the stake out. Looking up, he saw the bone dagger, the one weapon that could kill Cade.

“There’s no point hiding Damon! You’re dead.” Cade yelled. “Your soul belongs to me. I’m psychic remember? I know you can hear me.”

“Hiding ain't me style, Cade.” Damon said as he walked into the clearing. “Annoying you on the other hand- it’s right up my alley. So I guess this is where the tragic tale of Damon Salvatore ends.“

“Look on the bright side. Your suffering is just beginning.” Cade closed his eyes and the wind picked up and a loud rumble began. Damon grunted as his soul was pulled toward Cade. About halfway there, Damon stopped moving forward.

“Well that was anticlimactic. We taking an Uber instead?”

“We have a visitor. And her pain will be almost as sweet as yours.” Damon turned and saw Bonnie walking towards him. “Miss Bennett. You’re just in time.”

“Where are my friends?”

“Don’t worry. They’re safe, except for Damon. Damon’s very dead.”

“What?”

“Relax. You share my psychic gift, so if you’ll just open your mind.” Cade said and bonnie closed her eyes and focused.

“You shouldn’t be here, Bon.” Damon said.

“Let him go.”

“And why should I do that? Damon sold his soul to me.”

“Like you said, we share a gift. And I wont let you take him without a fight.”

“I was hoping you’d say that, but I warn you: if you attempt to keep Damon’s soul on this plane, your mind will surely shatter.” Another gust of wind came and knocked Damon closer to Cade. The vampire grabbed a hold of the large rock near him.

“I…said…No!”

“Or maybe your body will give up first, leaving Elena Gilbert to wake up in a world without her lover or best friend.”

“Shut up.”

“For the last time! Release Damon, or risk losing more than him.”

“He’s right Bon. You gotta let me go.”

“Not. Gonna. Happen.”

As Cade and Bonnie fought for Damon’s soul, Stefan exited the cave, and Caroline, Valerie, Matt and Jeremy came up to the clearing. The rumbling and wind got harsher.

“Please, let go Bon. Or I will.”

“Damon. Don’t you dare. Don’t.” Bonnie said as Damon prepared to let go of the rock he was clinging to. “Damon.”

Cade had almost pulled Damon towards him, when he felt something come up behind him. He turned and saw Stefan about to stab him with the bone dagger. With one hand, he pushed Stefan away from him, causing the younger man to drop the blade.

“Nice try, Stefan. “ Cade stated. “Nice, but ineffective. You weren’t a match for me as a vampire, why would a human you be any more of a threat?”

“Because, unlike then and unlike you, I have something to fight for.”

Cade began to focus solely on Stefan, deciding the others could wait until after he taught his ex-servant a lesson. Unbeknownst to Cade and Stefan, someone else had picked up the blade when Stefan dropped it.

“That doesn’t mat-“ Cade was cut off as the dagger was stabbed into his chest. He began to cough up blood.

“Bet you didn’t see that coming.” The person holding the knife said.

“Go…to Hell.”

“You first.” The person said, pushing the blade further into Cade’s chest. He grunted and then the dagger turned to ash and blew away. Cade then exploded into ash, knocking everyone backwards. Stefan crawled towards his friends.

“Guys. Caroline, Jeremy, wake up. Please. Bonnie wake up.”

Bonnie began to stir.

“Hey.”

“Thanks for having my back. For the record, this doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

“Consider it a first step. Because I’m not going to stop trying until you do.” Caroline and the others began to get their bearings as well.

“Am I late for the group hug?” Damon said, walking up miraculously alive.

“Damon, you okay?” Bonnie stood and asked.

“Yeah. That little psychic blast must have blew me back into my body.” Damon said before turning to the others. “And here I thought you all hated me.”

“Yeah well. With you dead and in Hell, things would have gotten boring. Plus, Elena would miss you.”

“Either way, please cherish this moment because I’m never going to say this again. Thank you. “

* * *

 Hours later, things were calming down. Damon and Stefan had gone off to have a ‘bro moment’. Matt was catching up on paperwork. Jeremy was watching over the girls, who were exhausted and Alaric and Caroline were discussing finding a suitable school for Lizzie and Josie. Bonnie meanwhile, was dealing with her least favorite person ever.

Kai woke up and found himself chained to a chair with karaoke music playing. “No…no, not the Spin Doctors.” He sighed. “I’m back in hell.”

“That’s impossible.” Bonnie said, stepping into the light. “Because Cade’s dead and Hell no longer exists.”

“Huh. So you guys really pulled it off. Hey, uh, let me loose and I’ll totally give you a high-five.” Bonnie chuckled. “Oh, are you here to punish me? Cause that’s kinda hot.”

“Well, I’ve been a bit psychic lately, so we both know that your worst fear is going back to a prison world.”

“You can't do that. Creating a prison world requires-“

“One of these, right?” Bonnie said holding up an ascendant. “Some Gemini magic, Josie and Lizzie are really making strides. I helped a little but, you gotta admit, this is impressive.”

Kai glared and looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“Oh, there is no one else. Just you and your insecure little mind. And a song you hate, on the jukebox forever. And there’s no eclipse to bail your ass out this time.”

Bonnie started to walk away and Kai began to panic. “No…wait bonnie. Wait, wait, wait! Please.” Kai’s demeanor then changed. “I…I lost a bet. Oh I can’t believe you guys fell for it.” The siphoner than started laughing.

“Fell for what?”

* * *

 

Damon was closing Elena’s coffin when he heard the front door of the boardinghouse close. “You came. I put some champagne on ice.” He turned to see Bonnie, who didn’t look happy. “Bon, what’s wrong?”

“I just spoke to Kai. You didn’t destroy Hell.”

“What are you talking about?”

Bonnie sighed and sat down. “Hell has been around for a long, long time. Nature sees Hell as the opposite of finding peace, and there has to be a balance. Hell can’t be destroyed without destroying the resting place of those at peace.”

“So if Cade isn’t running hell, then who is?”

“I have no idea.”

Bonnie and Damon’s worry was amplified when Alaric came running into the boardinghouse. He stopped when he saw Damon and Bonnie standing there. “Where is everyone?” he asked frantically.

“They went home. Why? what’s wrong Ric?”

“You need to get them here. Everyone who was at the quarry. I…. I found something important.”

Bonnie ran off to call Caroline and Matt, while Damon handled calling Jeremy and Stefan. Caroline promised her friend she’d call Valerie before the Heretic left town.

An hour later, seven extremely nervous people were sitting in the Salvatore living room. “Why are we here Ric?” Damon asked.

“We didn’t destroy Hell.”

“What do you mean?” Caroline asked.

“Hell can’t be destroyed, it’s too vital to the balance. All killing Cade did was change who runs Hell.”

“Yeah, Bonnie just told me.” Damon said. “But we don’t know who took over.”

“I figured.” Alaric said sighing. “I finally finished reading every piece of information Georgie had on Hell.”

“And?”

“That’s why you seven are here. Of the seven of you, only six had physical bodies when Cade died, no offense Damon. Stefan was distracting Cade when he was stabbed, so Stefan is ruled out. Which leaves you five in the running.” Alaric said pointing to Caroline, Matt, Jeremy, Valerie and Bonnie.

“In the running for what?” Stefan asked concerned.

“To run Hell. It’s a loophole of Nature. If you kill the devil, you become the devil.” Alaric said not looking at anyone. “Which one of you killed Cade?”

“It was me,” one of the five admitted. “I killed Cade.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who's the devil now? It's gonna be a while before that gets revealed. The candidates are: Bonnie, Caroline, Valerie, Matt and Jeremy.


	2. Chapter 2

**NEW ORLEANS-Two months later (April 2018)**

In the underground section of the former Mikaelson compound, Klaus sat motionless. Unable to move or speak, the hybrid had spent four years in unending and unbearable agony. His pain-addled mind barely registered the two other beings in the room.

“Is the barrier spell reinforced?” marcel asked Vincent.

“If it was, I would’ve told you.” Vincent said not looking up. “It’s not easy to contain something like him.” Vincent went back to muttering the spell before turning to Marcel. “There. Now, I’m done. If you’ll excuse me, I got witches to talk to.”

“Thanks man.” Marcel said without looking away from the imprisoned hybrid. The Upgraded Original walked over to his former sire and reached a hand into his chest. Taking a perverse pleasure in the groan Klaus let out, Marcel removed Papa Tunde’s blade.

“Mercy.” Klaus said, his voice hoarse from lack of use. Marcel simply stared at the hybrid. Thirty seconds later, he spoke again. “How long?”

“Four years. Now, you get to sit down here and rot until I decide its worth the energy to kill you.” Marcel turned and walked away, chaining the entrance to Klaus’ prison and locking it. Klaus stared after him and wondered if any of the hallucinations he’d had in the last four years were real. Hundreds of miles away, a woman woke up and gasped.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

A woman walked calmly but briskly through the former Salvatore Boardinghouse, now the Salvatore School for the Gifted, towards the ‘Staff Lounge’. When she closed the door, a dozen heads turned to face her.

Following the defeat of Cade, and the ascension of his successor, the Mystic Falls Gang had decided the best way to help Lizzie, Josie and children like them was to open their own school in the former boardinghouse. So far, the school only had four students, the twins, a distant cousin of Bonnie’s and a young orphaned werewolf, and two instructors: Bonnie and Valerie. Alaric and Jeremy had been assigned finding students and Caroline dealt with the day-to-day. The other ‘staff’ were Spirits of Hell brought to earth by the devil for various reasons.

“I found him.” She said looking at one person in particular. “Whatever was hiding him, it stopped.”

“Are you sure?” The new leader of Hell asked with a hard voice. “You’re positive it was him Tessa?”

“Yes I am.” Qetsiyah, or Tessa as she liked to be called, responded. “I have no idea how someone managed to hide him from everyone in this room,” Tessa gestured to the various people, some were alive or undead but most had recently been brought back from Hell, “but I finally found Klaus. He’s in New Orleans.”

“Oh thank god.” Caroline said releasing a breath.

“Yay, the hybrid’s alive and we know where. Why does that matter?”

“Because now Carebear over there can stop moping about finding him and start panicking about saving him.” Katherine stated, rolling her eyes. “Panicking Caroline is easier to deal with than moping Caroline.”

Katherine, Tessa and quite a few other less than friendly faces, had been brought to this plane by the new devil in order to find the Mikaelson family. No one had been told why the devil wanted the Original family found and none of the resurrected people felt comfortable asking.

“Now, we find Hayley. She probably has the other Mikaelsons.” The devil said. “Since none of them have been sent to my domain, they have to be on Earth somewhere.”

“Remind me again why we’re Team Mikaelson all of a sudden?” A resurrected male werewolf asked.

“We’re not ‘Team Mikaelson’. We’re Team ‘Do What I Say or You Get Sent Back to Hell’.” The ruler of Hell said before turning back to face the whole group. “Now, we’re are not going to approach Hayley Marshall just yet. She’s been on the run for years and if we approach now, we may spook her and delay our goal. Keep an eye on what she’s doing and a nudge in the right direction if needed.” They then turned to Katherine. “Find me someone in Hell that one of the Mikaelsons knows. Preferably, someone they trust.”

“I know the perfect person.” Katherine said grinning.

“Good. Now there’s just one more thing to do.”

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

Vincent Griffith was leaving his meeting with his fellow witches when he felt a change in the air. It felt like magic. Strong magic, old magic, magic the witch leader had no knowledge of. He tried to use his skill to lead him towards the source of such magic but he was unsuccessful. The energy seemed to be coming from all around him, like everything in existence was exuding this force. He had no answers and decided not to say anything to Marcel unless he had to.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

**“** It’s done.” A witch said without looking up.

“Fantastic.” The devil said smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4x01 things happen.....with a twist. We find out a few more people the devil let go.

**New Orleans-One Year Later (March 2019-When 4x01 takes place)**

Marcel left the Mikaelson compound slightly less on edge. Klaus had told him flattery and stroking his ego was the key to keeping Alistair Duquesne in line. The king of New Orleans felt less on edge, but nowhere near at ease. He knew Klaus well enough to know this could very easily be a trick to gain his freedom and, years of starvation or not, Klaus was still Klaus. Marcel decided to give Klaus the benefit of the doubt, for now.

Later that day, Marcel sat in his apartment fuming. Of course Klaus had lied to him, he should have seen it sooner. Now, Marcel was in a tight situation. He couldn’t kill Alistair without looking weak, and he couldn’t let Alistair kill Klaus. Now, he had a choice: let Klaus fight Alistair and expose his location to others, or allow Alistair to find Rebekah and the other Mikaelsons. There was no love lost between Marcel and most of the family, but he couldn’t let Rebekah die.

* * *

 

**Austin**

In the corner of a seedy bar in Austin, two dead werewolves and a dead vampire sat waiting. They’d heard from their ‘employer’ that a Malrux wolf had been found. Finding her was easy; keeping her out of trouble until Hayley arrived was another story.

“Remind me again why we don’t just take her?” one of the wolves asked.

“We don’t need her, we need the hybrid looking for her. Keelin over there is the last thing Hayley needs to awaken the Mikaelsons. Hayley finds her, and then we find them.” The vampire answered. The threesome got quiet hen they saw Hayley enter the bar and sit down.

When Hayley and Keelin left the bar, the two wolves followed them, and the vampire lingered to make a call. Before reporting in, she sped into the kitchen to handle the vampire threatening the staff. Unwilling to draw the fight out, Nadia simply ran over to the vampire in question and tore his heart out. When that was done, she made a phone call.

“Yes?” the voice on the other end of the phone answered.

“We found the girl and Hayley. The other two are following her now. If I had to guess, I’d say within two hours, they’ll be up.”

“Good. I sent another associate of ours your way. He’ll help wake them up while you three deal with any party crashers.”

“Understood.”

 

In an abandoned warehouse, Hayley stabbed a needle into a blonde woman’s chest and Freya Mikaelson gasped awake.

“Did you get the ingredients?” Freya asked and Hayley nodded. “Good, I need to begin. If I cant turn all that into a cure, Elijah and Kol are going to die.”

“How long do we have?”

“An hour, maybe more. Assuming they live that long.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re here to help.” All three women turned towards the voice and saw two men and two women standing in the warehouse.

“Who are you?” Hayley asked threateningly.

“Right. I’m Markos, that’s Nadia, and the two wolves over there are Brady and Jules.”

“Why are you here?”

“You’re not the only one with a vested interest in making sure the Mikaelson family survives.” Markos said vaguely. “I’m here to help with the spell, the other three will deal with any distractions.”

“How do I know you’re not really here to kill my family?” Freya asked suspiciously.

“If we, or our boss, didn’t want them alive, we would have killed her,” Nadia said pointing to Keelin, “two weeks ago when we found her. I also wouldn’t have made sure Mary got a lead on her.”

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

“You wanted him, you got him.” Marcel said to Alistair, pointing towards a doorway that Klaus as being pulled through.

“Oh, Niklaus. How the mighty have fallen.”

“Pretty pathetic. Chained. Beaten. Half-starved. I should just kill him. After all, a wise man once said ‘One cannot be free if one’s oppressors continue to live.’ And what I’ve learned is, the best way to end your fear is to face it yourself. So, for you, a gift.” Marcel grabbed the sword Alistair had given him earlier that day. “The sword you gave me, now laced with my venom. One slice will draw Klaus’ blood and deliver the slow, agonizing death he deserves.”

“It would be my highest honor.”

Alistair moved to grab the blade when it went flying towards the entrance of the compound. Every head turned and saw a man with light brown hair holding the sword. “Sorry, but that’s not happening.”

“And who exactly are you to decide that? “ Alistair asked about to run and take the sword.

The man scratched his face and said. “Right, Tessa. If you would be so kind.” A dark haired woman stepped out from behind him with one hand raised. The vampires soon found themselves in immense pain.

“Look, Stefan. You seemed like an okay guy five years ago, give me back the sword so we can finished this and I’ll forget about what you just did.” Marcel said.

“Umm…I’m not Stefan. He’s just a cheap perversion of me, in more ways then one.” Silas said before walking over the Klaus. “Remember me? How much fun I had convincing you that you were dying?”

“No, it’s not possible. You died, the Other Side got destroyed. You shouldn’t be here, it’s not possible.”

“I mean, clearly it is.” Silas said. “Lucky for you, someone up there, or down there I guess, doesn’t want you to die just yet.” He reached down and snapped the hybrid’s neck. The former immortal then looked at the sword in his hand and focused. A few moments later, a flame engulfed the blade and, when the fire went out, the venom was no longer coating the weapon.

“Okay, that’s it. Whoever kills him,” Marcel said pointing to Silas “gets any request they want granted.”

The various vampires rushed the man, each eager to earn a favor from their king. For several minutes, the only sound coming from the compound was grunting and then sound of necks snapping. While Silas was fighting off most of the vampires, Sofiya had snuck up behind him and, when she saw an opportunity, tore his heart out.

Everyone stopped in confusion when nothing happened. Instead of dying, Silas shrugged and broke her neck.

“Stop!” Marcel yelled. “What are you?”

“Oh, right. My name is Silas, this is Tessa, my psychotic ex-fiancé.”

“I don’t care. How can you survive without a heart?”

“Ah, that. I died, years ago. A few months before the Other Side collapsed. Since I’m already dead, I can’t be killed again.” Silas then turned to Tessa, “Is it done?”

“Yup. They’re all stuck here until you-know-who comes for them.” She said smiling.

Another voice called out when Qetsiyah finished speaking. “Wait, they’re stuck here? That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Diego?” Josh said looking shocked.

“Hey.” He said to Josh before turning back to Silas. “Trapping them here, with him, was not part of the plan.”

“It was always part of the plan.” Silas shot back.

“Don’t be so mean, Silas.” Katherine said walking into the compound. She was flanked by a redheaded woman and a brunette. “He didn’t know on purpose.”

“Katherine, what’s he talking about?”

“We never had much faith in you Diego. Conflicting interests and all that. You had a single job, and you couldn’t even do that. You know what happens now.”

“What? No…I….” Diego began to panic and everyone watched in confusion at his reaction. No one had a chance to ask Diego why he was so concerned, as the wind picked up and a voice called out.

“Diego. You failed me. I raised you from the dead, and you can’t even do the one thing I asked of you.“ Silas, and his companions recognized the voice but no one else did.

“No, please. I can…. I can do better.”

“As I told your friend months ago, I don’t give second chances. If you cannot follow simple instructions, I have no use for you. Which means, you should not be walking the earth.” Diego continued begging to no avail, and a second later he was engulfed in flames.

“That always looks so cool.” The brunette next to Katherine said.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Right, I’m Vicki. This is Sage and that is the infamous Katherine Pierce.”

“Where did he go?” josh asked in a broken voice.

“Nowhere you want to be.”

“Why should we give a shit?” Alistair asked before turning to Marcel. “Can we get back to killing him now?” he pointed to Klaus.

Sage rolled her eyes and sped over to the vampire, tearing his heart out. “I swear, these young vampires, so arrogant. They never listen.” She then turned to face the crowd. “Let’s get a few things straight. One, you’re not killing Klaus today. Two, you all are trapped here for the time being. Three, the five of us cannot be killed, but all of you, and I do mean ALL of you, still can, so don’t do anything stupid.”

* * *

 

**Austin**

Elijah turned away from the burning corpses to face Hayley. “May I ask who those four are?” he said referring to Markos and the others.

“I don’t know for sure. They showed up right after I woke Freya. They claim to not want to hurt our family.”

“Do you trust them?”

“Of course not. “

“You really should.” Brady said standing behind them. “The four of us had a lot more to lose than you did.”

“They’re my family.”

“And if they hadn’t survived, Jules, me and the other two would have gotten sucked back to hell to be tortured for eternity.”

“What do you mean ‘sucked back to hell’?” Elijah asked.

“The four if us, we’re dead. Like dead dead, not undead like you people. We got sent to Hell. Someone down there likes you, or at least doesn’t want you to die. The four of us, and a few other people got pulled out of Hell for something. Part of that plan was making sure you four, and Klaus, survive.” Brady said before walking off.

Hayley and Elijah spoke for a few minutes about personal matters when the topic of Hope came up.

“I promised her I’d reunite our family. There’s just one person left.”

“Let’s go get him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the devil brought more than just Katherine and Qetsiyah back. I feel like, for some of the dead people, the devil would have been like 'help me with this thing and I'll either a) let you stay on earth or b) let you find peace'.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, a lot of things said by Katherine, Silas, etc are wrong. They're wrong on purpose, because they have no reason to tell Marcel and company the truth.

“How long are we to be trapped here?” Marcel asked agitated. It had been less than an hour since Silas first appeared.

“Until we get what we want or the devil decides to give you an audience. It could be a few years.”

“The devil? Seriously?” one of the vampires asked.

“Deadly. Hell, the devil, perpetual torment, its all real.”

“Bullshit.” The same vampire said.

“Really? Most of you are vampires, one of you is a hybrid, there’s a witch or two in here, and you all just witnessed another vampire, who died years ago, get burned out of existence by Hellfire but the devil is too much of a stretch?”

“Fine.” Marcel said. “Let’s say I believe you and the devil is real. What does Klaus or any of us have to do with it?”

“I don’t know. See, I’m just happy that I’m no longer being tortured in Hell indefinitely so I don’t ask questions. When the devil tells you to do something, you do it. Even though this one is better than the last one.”

“The last one?”

“Ah, I forgot. You were so busy in your tiny little kingdom; you haven’t been paying attention to the big world. Hell underwent a regime change about a year ago. So the devil who was content to ignore your kind for a millennia isn’t the devil that sent us here.”

“Can you just call him or something? Find out what this is about.” Josh asked.

The visitors from Hell all chucked. Katherine answered. “You do know Hell is a separate dimension right? No matter how good the cell service is, you can’t just call up Hell.”

“Well, not on a phone.” Vicki added. “But it’s a little late for that right now.”

“How then? He’s your boss, how do we call the devil?” Marcel asked.

“There’s two ways.” Qetsiyah said sounding bored. “Option one: sacrifice a bunch of children.”

“Option two?”

“There’s a bell that was forged years ago, it has the ability to summon the devil.”

“Yeah, its too bad it got dismantled and we only have one piece of it.” Vicki said.

“Two pieces.” Silas said. “You have the heirloom and Kitty Kat over there managed to steal away the tuning fork. “

“See?” Katherine said, hitting it against a wall. None of the vampires reacted but Vincent got a splitting headache.

“What the hell is that thing?” Vincent asked after he recovered.

“It’s a tuning fork specially designed to disrupt psychic energy. Unfortunately for you, magic is rooted in psychic energy so it affects witches too.”

“We still don’t have the bell or anyone to ring it.” Vicki argued.

“What do you mean ‘someone to ring it’?”

Silas sighed and turned to face Marcel. “The bell can only be rung by the living. It can’t be rung by a witch, werewolf or anyone who has ever died, even if they were resurrected. A 100% normal, non-supernatural, non-resuscitated human.”

“Sorry we’re late.” A woman’s voice called out. “Transporting the bell without letting the Armory know I have it was harder than I thought. Luckily, these nice young men were willing to help a poor, weak historian trying to restore the bell.” Isobel said gesturing to the group of four men carrying the bell inside. “And wouldn’t you know, Bryan Maxwell here is an ordinary, run-of-the-mill human. He’s agreed to ring the bell for us.”

“How helpful of him.” Silas said, and the others nodded in agreement. “Now, Bryan, we need you to ring that bell twelve times. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Silas smiled and he and Qetsiyah went to work reassembling the bell. Vicki retreated upstairs to find some alcohol. Sage and Katherine stayed where they were, observing the crowd.

“Katerina, Sage. I’d say it’s a pleasure, but why lie?” Klaus said, speaking for the first time since waking.

“Seeing you like this is pleasurable for me. Kinda makes up for all you put me through for five centuries.” Katherine said. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It does make me less angry at him for sticking Finn in a box for nine centuries.” Sage admitted.

“And let me guess? When the devil comes personally for my soul, that will be your revenge.”

“The devil doesn’t want your soul yet. In all honesty, I don’t know why we’re doing this, but we are.”

“Well, I’m doing this so Finn and I don’t get sent back to Hell.”

“There is that.” Katherine said nodding.

“Wait, Finn is here? Alive?”

“Your brother didn’t find peace. If you don’t find peace, you get sent to Hell. When the two of us got pulled out, other people did too. Like Silas, Qetsiyah and the werewolf you used to break your curse.”

Half an hour after Isobel’s arrival, Silas and Qetsiyah began chanting. Everyone trapped in the compound felt a surge of energy and a strong gust of wind. Then Silas said, “It’s done. The bell is complete. Mr. Maxwell, if you would?”

The crowd stood watching as Bryan rang the bell once. Then a second time, then a third. They stood in silence has Bryan got closer and closer to a dozen rings, most of the vampires wondering what would happen. After ring number eleven, everyone waited in trepidation. Someone sped into the compound and hit Bryan hard enough to knock him out. Ring number twelve never came.

“Exactly how stupid are you people?” Bryan’s attacker yelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think stopped ring #12? Who do you think the devil is going to bring back to talk to the Originals?


	5. Chapter 5

“Exactly how stupid are you people?” Bryan’s attacker yelled.

“Damon, why did you stop him?” Katherine yelled.

“He was gonna ring the bell twelve times!”

“Yeah, that’s what we wanted.” One of Marcel’s vampires said annoyed. “How else are we supposed to summon the devil?”

Damon stared at him before looking at Katherine and the others. He looked back at the vampires and spoke. “They didn’t tell you the fine print, did they?”

“What fine print?” Marcel asked dangerously.

“Oh, the bell will let you talk to the devil. See Hell is really a giant psychic imprint of the moment of its creator’s death. The creator, Cade, was burned at the stake so the entire domain is pretty much a giant ball of fire. Now, when Cade lost Hell to the current devil, that psychic energy stayed about the same. The tuning fork disrupts that energy, and when amplified by the bell, it rips a hole open straight to them.”

“Them?”

“Yeah, did you think the devil works alone? No, there’s a whole all-powerful immortal committee down in Hell that decides shit far above either of our pay grades. Klaus goes way back with one of them, and trust me she’s a real bitch when she wants to be. Oh, and she hates you. Anyway, ringing the bell twelve times would have caused you a whole mess of problems.”

“How?”

“Ringing the bell 12 times cracks open the door between this world and Hell. The Hellfire it unleashes destroys everything for miles. Including-“

“The entire city of New Orleans.” Qetsiyah finished for him.

“Which I’m guessing was part of some plan of Katherine’s to harvest all your souls. So, you see. I did you a favor.” Damon finished. “How many times did it ring?”

“Eleven.”

“Dammit. One less and we would have been fine.” Damon said gritting his teeth. “Well, I’m gonna bounce before the stupidity of your actions catch up to you.” Damon then sped away.

Damon smiled as he walked away from the compound. Caroline and Alaric’s plan had worked perfectly. The bell was rung just enough times, Damon made himself look like a possible ally to Marcel for now and he got to screw over Katherine and Silas, even if it was planned. Maybe the Mystic Falls gang should have left more of the planning to Caroline in the past.

The assembled vampires turned to look at Katherine. “You lied to us.”

“No, we didn’t. You wanted to talk to my boss, if you’re dead and in Hell, you could have.”

“What does eleven rings do? He seemed very upset that eleven rings happened.” Sofiya asked.

“What do you think happens?” Vicki countered.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you.”

“I’m guessing it unleashes something over than Hellfire.” Josh said trying to be helpful.

“You’d be correct. We didn’t actually want the bell to ring twelve times, but eleven, eleven rings, that’s what we needed.” Silas raised his hand and muttering something before turning to the crowd. “You all, except Klaus of course, are now free to go.”

“Really? You’re just letting us go?”

“Why not? We got what we wanted, Alistair is dead and people would notice that you’re missing.”

“I don’t get it. I didn’t need you to kill Alistair and you didn’t need us to ring the bell. Why get involved with this at all?”

“We didn’t need you to ring the bell, but we did need the bell to be rung here. Don’t hurt your pretty little brain trying to work out why.” Qetsiyah said before turning to leave. “Toodles.”

* * *

 

The assembled vampires dispersed, and Marcel and Vincent quickly returned Klaus to his ‘cell’. Worry about what had just occurred weighed heavy on both men’s minds. Vincent went to the witches to see if anything unusual had happened or if they sensed anything. Marcel went into damage control mode to keep what just happened from being leaked to others.

Klaus was too wrapped up in what Damon had said regarding Hell and the devil, and learning Finn was walking the earth once again, that he didn’t even bother trying to goad Vincent or Marcel into a fight. Damon’s familiarity with the devil made the hybrid uneasy, as did the presence of Katerina Petrova.

“Sorry you didn’t get to tear Alistair’s head off.” Vicki said from the doorway. “He seemed like a dick.”

“He was like that long before I turned him or made him kill his family.” Klaus admitted. “Who exactly are you?”

“I am…. well was, Matt’s sister. Damon turned me into a vampire and Stefan killed me. A little over a year ago, the devil brought me back.”

“What does eleven rings do?”

“I’ll answer that question later. It can’t be the only one you have. And there are things she wants you to know.”

“She?”

“Caroline. You know, yea high, blonde hair, super well organized. “

“Caroline knows the devil?”

“Well, all of this, saving you, helping wake your family, its her plan.”

“Who is the new devil?” Klaus asked.

“I can’t tell you that,” she answered.

“Can you tell me anything?”

“Questions about the bell I can answer. Anything you ask about Hell itself or what the plan is, I can answer based on what I know. But questions about who the devil is and how they became that way, I am physically incapable of answering. I’ve essentially been compelled to not be able to answer. They want you to know some but not everything.”

“Fine. How did you know to come here tonight? During the fight?”

“One of Marcel’s vampires was sent back from Hell. He heard Marcel invite Alistair here to settle their differences. He told the devil who acted accordingly. So Silas and Qetsiyah cloaked themselves and waited.” Vicki stated simply. “I also think someone decided to use the opportunity as a show of force.”

“And how did anyone know to station someone here? I’ve been ‘missing’ for five years.”

“About that. When the new boss took over, the first order of business was finding you and your family. I don’t know why. Finding Hayley was easy with the power of Hell behind us, but you were harder to find. Until eleven months ago. Whatever spell or object was cloaking you stopped working. Qetsiyah was instantly able to find you and that’s how we knew to put someone in New Orleans.”

“So the devil doesn’t want me dead? I suppose that’s a good thing. What of my family?”

“Doesn’t want them dead either. Look, I have to report in about everything, you get one more question.”

“What does eleven rings do?”

“Last time that bell rang eleven times, I got pulled out of Hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify: Damon, Katherine, etc are all on the same side. Damon needed to stop ring #12 because the devil didn't want to unleash hellfire, just open a portal. Stopping ring #12 was a tactical move


	6. Chapter 6

**Mystic Falls**

In the ‘Staff Lounge’ of the Salvatore School, six people and the devil sat waiting. Alaric, Matt, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Valerie and the Salvatore brothers agreed, after discovering the identity of the next leader of Hell, to keep that knowledge a secret. Anonymity was a powerful agent in the supernatural world. They had formed a council of sorts to stop the new devil from losing their connection to humanity. All of them, except Damon, were waiting for progress reports from their ‘employees’.

“You shouldn’t worry so much.” Alaric said to the devil, which was tapping their fingers against the conference table. “Between Katherine, Tessa and Silas, the bell will be rung. And Nadia will keep the other three in line.”

“I’m not worried about that. I just hope Damon interrupts them at the right moment.”

“He will.” Jeremy said. “Damon’s a dick, but he’s a dick with good timing.”

Any rebuttal was cut off when the phone rang. Being the closest, Valerie picked up the phone and put it on speaker. “Yes?”

“Mikaelsons are awake. The vampires following Hayley have been dealt with. They’ll probably move on Klaus soon.” Markos said.

The devil smiled and said, “Good. You and Nadia get back here. The other two will be going with them.”

“Yes boss.” The dead Traveler hung up.

An hour later, Damon called to inform them that the plan worked perfectly. Katherine manipulated a distant relative of Matt’s to ring the bell and Damon arrived just in time to stop ring number 12 and leak just enough information to Marcel. He also mentioned that Qetsiyah and Silas were still as dysfunctional, and deadly, as ever. Silas and Qetsiyah’s impersonation of the devil to get rid of Diego was similarly successful. Finally, Katherine called to inform the group that Qetsiyah and Vicki were staying behind in New Orleans to ensure Klaus’ escape.

* * *

 

**Woods Outside New Orleans**

Elijah stood up, dislodging the corpse that was lying in his lap. “We free Niklaus today. Even if I have to burn that city to the ground.”

“Great. I always wanted to plan a prison break.” A voice said from behind them. The Originals turned and saw Jules and Brady. “Plus, I love setting fires.”

“Why are you following us?” Rebekah asked.

“As I told him yesterday,” Brady said pointing to Elijah. “Hayley wasn’t the only person with a vested interest in making sure your family survives.”

“Right. The devil doesn’t want us to die.” Kol said sarcastically. “Why exactly would he care?”

“No idea. Then again, maybe they’re waiting for the right moment to kill you.” Brady said. “Either way, because my new boss cares, for whatever reason, finding Klaus is going to be a lot easier.”

“How exactly is it going to be easier?”

Jules snorted and answered. “We’ve been shadowing Hayley for almost a year. Did you think they wouldn’t send someone to New Orleans to locate your brother?”

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

**Josh’s Apartment**

The fugitive Mikaelson family stood in Josh’s loft arguing about what to do.

“We need to find Niklaus.”

“What we need is to lure Marcel away from the quarter so you can save Nik. I can do that Elijah.”

“Actually, we need to figure out what exactly Josh here knows and act accordingly. I’m down for a little bit of torture after five years asleep.”

The discussion devolved into shouting quickly after. Josh was reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone and text Marcel when Jules saw the motion. She gave Brady a look before picking up a pen and throwing it. it imbeded itself in Josh's neck.

“Bad idea, baby vampire.” She told him. When he was busy pulling the pen out, Brady stole his phone. Jules rolled her eyes and spoke. “You don’t need to find Klaus. One of my colleagues knows where he is. I’m just waiting for his arrival. Distracting Marcel and watching Josh here is something you do need to do.”

The family quieted, and Elijah asked, “When is this colleague of yours arriving?”

“You know, for four people who are centuries old, you guys are really impatient. I’m glad to see the five year comas didn’t change too much.” Damon said from the doorway. He then turned to face Josh. “I remember you. The vampire whose dead friend got deported back to Hell. Jules, break his neck.”

The werewolf glared but complied with Damon’s order. ”Damon, you died?” Rebekah asked.

“Many times, but I’m not like Jules with the whole ‘dead and bound to Hell’ thing. Anyway, your brother, who I can’t believe I’m helping, is being kept in a dungeon under your old compound. And if I know the devil, and I do, at least one resurrected minion was left behind in case you run into trouble.” Damon said sounding bored. “So I guess Elijah, long lost sister and baby mama go and get Klaus while sexy Becks distracts Marcel and Kol stays here to keep Josh from running his mouth. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do.”

* * *

 

**Lafayette Cemetery**

“It will never be over. You will never find peace, not a day in your life, as long as you hold my brother captive. We will stop at nothing-“

Rebekah was cut off as someone shot her in the back. “Sorry to interrupt. Though in fairness, she does talk a lot. Should I drop her in the gulf?”

“Nobody lays a finger on her. I just have to go kill her brother.”

* * *

 

**Rousseau’s**

“It’s a battle where the bad guys caught the good guys off guard. Marcels’ warning me that you’re all here so I can spread the word to the rest of our guys.”

“So you can keep us busy and Marcel can kill us.” Kol finished for him. “You’re lucky Davina liked you.”

* * *

 

**Lafayette Cemetery**

“You really don’t know when to quit.” Sofiya said as she stabbed another arrow into Rebekah’s back.

“You know, we could get a pretty penny for Rebekah Mikaelson.”

“Yes we could. But if Marcel wants her safe, then I’m gonna keep her safe.”

The vampire was about to respond when he fell to the ground dead. “Well, he won’t be taking anyone, as he is rather indisposed. But to be fair, you won’t be keeping anyone either.”

Sofiya’s cohorts ran towards Kol while she ran away. On her way out of the cemetery, she ran into Jules.

“Running away so soon?” the werewolf asked. She pulled an odd looking dagger out of her pocket.

“It’s not a full moon. I could tear through you like tissue paper.” Sofiya countered.

Jules rolled her eyes and threw the blade, which buried itself in the vampire’s shoulder. Sofiya pulled it out and threw it to the side. “One, I’m already dead. And two, I don’t need to kill you.” She walked past the vampire and headed towards Kol and Rebekah. Sofiya stared after her in confusion before walking away. Jules found the two Mikaleson siblings as Kol was bashing one vampire’s face in.

“Can we leave this awful city now?” Kol practically yelled.

“Where’s Elijah?”

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

Elijah, Freya and Hayley moved silently into the compound, hoping no one else was around. The two undead members of the group sensed something was off but ignored it due to time constraints. Walking into the tunnels, they saw Klaus chained and sitting in a circle of salt. He was talking to a brunette woman no one else had seen before.

Elijah and Freya ran up to the locked gate, which gained the brunette’s attention. “Niklaus! Brother.”

“Let me.” Freya said about to open the lock with magic.

“Oh good. You guys made it here. That means I have to do my job.”

“Say hello to the devil for me.” Klaus said from his spot on the floor. “You three look well.”

Freya broke the lock off and the trio ran into the cell. “This spell is strong. It’s been reinforced over time, which means its gonna take time to break.”

“We don’t have time.” Elijah said.

“I could try brute force. Overwhelm it. But I’ll need someone to channel.”

“Channel me. Elijah, keep watch.”

“Whatever happens, don’t stop until Niklaus is free.”

Freya grabbed Hayley’s hand and Elijah ran upstairs.


	7. Chapter 7

**THE ABATTOIR**

Elijah ran to the main floor of the compound and found himself face-to-face with Marcel. “Hello Marcellus.”

“You find some way to survive my bite and you have the audacity to come back. What happened? Immortality just got boring?”

“I’ve come for my brother. He has suffered enough. He leaves here today.”

“We’ll see about that.” Both men pounced to attack.

After a few minutes of throwing each other back and forth across the courtyard, Hayley sped between the two fighting men. “Enough.”

“Hayley leave us.”

“He’s right. This is between me and him.”

“And if I stay you’ll kill me too? Make me daughter an orphan?”

“This isn’t your fight.”

“Yes, it is.”

An unseen person had been watching the courtyard since Elijah’s arrival. She wanted to see what the Mikaelsons would do when facing Marcel.

“Hayley, get Niklaus and go.” Elijah said not taking his eyes off marcel.

“Your brother isn’t going anywhere Elijah. And neither are you.”

The invisible woman made herself visible and raised her arm. “Actually, they are. Sorry, but as I said yesterday, the devil doesn’t want them dead.” Qetsiyah said. Marcel found himself on the receiving end of the worst aneurism of his life. The pain was so intense he was forced to his knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Freya and Klaus come running into the courtyard. “Go. Now.”

As she heard the group run away, Marcel gritted his teeth and spit out one thing. “I will kill you for this.”

“I’m already dead, idiot.” Qetsiyah bit back before snapping his neck with her magic.

* * *

 

**Outside New Orleans**

“Elijah, this is me not worrying that you were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago. Please call me back.” Rebekah said as she paced in front of the sewer entrance.

“It’s been too long, we should go.”

“We’re not leaving our family.”

“Marcel could be tearing our family to shreds as we speak.”

“Or, they don’t have cell service in a drainage pipe.”

Kol’s reply was cut off when Elijah, Freya and Hayley exited the drainage pipe, with Elijah supporting Klaus. “Nik!”

“You can hug him later. We need to leave.” Freya said.

“Marcel’s right behind us. We need to go.”

The family turned around and saw someone standing in front of them. “Actually, I’m right here.”

* * *

 

**Elsewhere**

“They got him out. Tessa bought them some time and I found the blade.”

“Good.” The voice on the other end of the phone said. “I suspect that is all?”

“One more thing. Jules used the knife on one of Marcel’s people.”

“Which person and what species?”

“Some vampire named Sofiya.”

* * *

 

**Outside New Orleans**

“You shouldn’t have come back. None of you.” Marcel said as he stood threateningly before the Mikaelson family.

“That’s what family does, we fight for each other.” Hayley said stepping forward.

“Yeah, I’ve heard. That didn’t really work out for me, did it?”

Kol rolled his eyes. “You were never a Mikaelson, get over it. Don’t you have a city to run?”

Marcel stepped forward to attack but Rebekah got in between Kol and Marcel. “If you want to kill one of us, you’ll have to kill all of us.”

“Don’t push me, Rebek-“ Marcel was cut off when his neck was broken. To add insult to injury, his attacker then pulled out a stake and stabbed him in the heart.

“I’ve been waiting so long to do that.” Katherine said as she stood up from the body. “Hello Elijah.”

“Katerina. How…. how are you here?”

“Didn’t one of the wolves tell you the devil could resurrect anyone in Hell?”

“Can we discuss this later please?” Hayley interrupted. “He could wake up soon.”

A car sped towards the group and stopped centimeters away from Katherine. The driver’s door opened and Finn stepped out. “Get in if you want to live.”

“Terminator. Nice.” Kol said, having watched the films after being undaggered in Mystic Falls.

“What on earth are you talking about?” The eldest brother asked. The group shook their heads and got into the vehicle. Most of the drive was spent in silence, until Rebekah asked a question.

“How are you here right now?”

“The same way Katherine and the other dead people are. When I died, my spirit was sent to Hell. The current devil took over Hell, and she let me out. I have no idea why though.”

The Mikaelsons turned to look at Katherine for an explanation. “Yeah, no one knows why. The devil is a little tight-lipped on details and no one wants to ask her about them.”

“Her?” Hayley asked. This was the third time the devil was referred to as female.

“Yeah, the devil’s a woman now. And, in a shocking turn of events, some of you have met her before. Hell, Klaus even spoke with her recently.”

“We have?” Kol asked.

“When could I have spoken to her? I’ve been in a dungeon for five years.” Klaus asked.

“Last April, when she had Silas project her consciousness into your mind. It was right after Marcel pulled the blade out.”

“That was the devil? I thought it was some weird hunger-induced hallucination.”

“Nope, it was the devil.” Katherine said popping the ‘p’.

“Back on topic, some of us have met the devil?” Kol asked again.

“Wait, no one told you?” Katherine asked Elijah, Kol, Rebekah and Freya who shook their heads. She then turned to Klaus. “And Vicki didn’t tell you either?”

“No, she didn’t tell me much of anything.”

“Oh. I guess I’ll tell you then. The fight where Cade got defeated and the current devil became the devil took place just outside Mystic Falls. And she’s from Mystic Falls.”

“Of course the devil is from Mystic Falls.” Rebekah deadpanned. “Who is it?”

“She can’t tell you.” Klaus interjected. “I asked Vicki, and she told me the souls bound to Hell are unable to identify her. They’re basically compelled to not be able to say the name.”

“It’s actually more complex than that. “ Finn said. “It’s a lot harder to fight someone you can’t identify. Personal feelings aside, its an improvement over the last devil.”

“Yeah. The only people who can tell you the devil’s name are the seven people who were there when she beat Cade.” Katherine added. “And they aren’t keen on sharing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the devil is a woman. Meaning its either Caroline, Bonnie or Valerie.


	8. Chapter 8

**MYSTIC FALLS FEBRUARY 2018**

“So I’m the devil. Well I guess it could be worse.”

“How?” Stefan asked

“The devil could be someone else, like Julian.” Valerie said.

“Or Katherine.” Said Bonnie.

“Or Silas.” Jeremy added.

“Or Kai.” Caroline said.

“We could go all night with this, so let’s just stop.” Damon suggested.

“I have to admit, it does make sense.” One of the women said. “I know it’s only been a few hours since I killed Cade, but I feel…off. Or, I guess different is a better word.”

“Different how?”

“I…. more powerful, stronger for one thing. I also…. I can kinda sense things I shouldn’t be able to.”

“What does that mean?” Matt asked.

“I can feel Lizzie and Josie presence even though they’re a mile away being watched by Dorian. I can tell that Kai wasn’t the only person to escape Hell when that bell rang. And when I woke up, all I could hear was screaming.”

“That fits with what Georgie found out.” Alaric said to the group. “The psychic blast that was released when you killed Cade would have attached itself to you. All that energy was bound to him because he ruled Hell and it had to go somewhere.”

“Ok, but how can she survive containing that much energy?” Jeremy asked.

“I don’t know, Jer. All right? I have no idea. I mean, this is Hell and the devil and things way above everyone’s heads. My guess would be that she survives because Hell must have a ruler.”

“We can’t tell anyone who took over Hell.” The new ruler of Hell said. “We’re the only people that know, I’d like to keep it that way. It prevents any one of us from being singled out.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and the room fell silent. Until that is, Matt asked a question.

“Now that you’re the devil, what are you going to do?” Everyone looked at him in confusion. “You just said Kai wasn’t the only person to escape Hell. I don’t think you’d want a bunch of evil dead people running around.”

“I don’t. Especially considering I don’t know if they know who I am.”

Everyone left shortly after to process everything they’d just learned. The new leader of Hell got very little sleep that night, wondering how she was supposed to rule Hell and what this meant for those she cared about. They had agreed to meet late the next morning, after processing everything, to start planning.

At ten am the next morning, everyone except Caroline and Alaric were standing in the kitchen of the Salvatore boardinghouse. The blonde cam running in about fifteen minutes later with one of the twins holding her hand. Alaric came in shortly after.

“Sorry I’m late. We had a little…trouble getting ready this morning.” The blond blurted out.

“Mommy, can I go play?” Lizzie asked looking up at her mother.

“Of course sweetie. But stay where we can hear you.” Lizzie took her sisters hand and they skipped away. “Now, where were we?”

“Trying to process the megaton pile of weirdness that got dropped on us last night.” Damon said.

Any reply got cut off by the doorbell ringing. Everyone looked around, no one was expecting someone to show up and it made the group uneasy. They moved into the foyer and Damon slowly opened the door.

His jaw dropped when he saw who was standing there. As did everyone else’s. “Vicki?” Matt said.

“Hey Matty. Everyone else”

“How are you alive?”

“Something let me out of Hell a few days ago. And last night, I felt something weird happen.”

“Wait, you were in Hell?”

“Where did you think that vortex sent me?” Vicki asked her brother. “I went to Hell and it sucked. I’m not too excited to go back.”

“Why are you here Vicki?”

“I just…. felt compelled to come here. It’s like Hell is trying to pull me back. I have no idea why.” Vicki looked at each person and stopped when her eyes landed on Cade’s killer. “It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one who summoned me here.”

“I didn’t mean to.” The woman admitted. “I kinda… beat Cade and took over Hell yesterday.”

“Weirder things have happened. Although the fact that you’re the devil is hilarious.” Vicki said. “Cade let me out to do something. Now that he’s no longer in charge, whether I stay is up to you. I’d appreciate it if I didn’t get sent back to Hell.”

She looked between Matt and his sister and decided to be nice, for now. “I’ll make you a deal. Don’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, I’m the devil, and you can stay.”

“Deal. I hope you know everyone who escaped Hell is on their way here right now.”

“Good. I could use the help.”

* * *

 

**ONE MONTH LATER-MARCH 2018**

“Why are we looking for my family again?” Finn asked from his seat at the table. The devil had raised Finn, Sage and a few others three weeks ago and set them to work locating the Mikaelson family.

“Because the boss lady said so. She needs them for something.” Vicki answered. As they conversed, the devil entered the room.

“This way I don’t need to strike a bargain with anyone else. Three of their souls are already mine and something tells me they don’t want to die. The only sibling that’s died in the last five years is you, so they have to be on earth somewhere. ”

* * *

 

**ONE MONTH LATER-APRIL 2018**

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” a witch asked the devil.

“The Mikaelson family are five of the strongest beings alive. Once I convince them it’s in their best interest to give me what I want, killing me will be next to impossible. Now that one is able to talk, we can strike a bargain.” The devil said not looking up. “Besides, something big is coming, and I need them awake for it.”

“Ok, fine. You’re the boss.”

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

Klaus Mikaleson sat in his prison, staring into space. After four years in unending agony, Marcel had finally removed Papa Tunde’s blade. He’d lost four years of time, missed out on four years of his daughter’s life and was now stuck in his former home and doomed to miss even more. For a brief moment, he wondered if anyone had missed him in the last few years. His family was asleep and Hope must have missed him, but he pondered if anyone else did. He doubted it. Outside of his family, the only person he cared about was Caroline, who was probably off seeing the world and achieving all those goals she was so focused on.

Klaus felt himself begin to lose consciousness.

“Hello Klaus.” he heard a familiar voice say. He turned his head slightly and saw something impossible.

“Camille? No, no this can’t be. You died. I’m hallucinating again.”

Camille then turned into Elijah. “Well, I’m not really Camille, or Elijah and you’re sort-of hallucinating. You’re somewhere on between awake and being asleep. It’s the only way.”

“Only way to what?”

“Talk to you. I’m not in this dank basement, I’m in there.” Fake-Elijah said pointing at Klaus’ head.

“So I’m losing my mind down here.”

“You have lived a long life, and yet you know very little of the world.”

Klaus stared for a second. “If you’re not Cami, you’re not Elijah either. Can you not look like him?”

“Can do.” Fake-Elijah said, shifting into Caroline. “I can appear as anyone you wish to see. Save one. I am many things; cruel is not one of them. I will not appear to you as your child.”

The hybrid paused for a moment, seeing Hope would be cruel, since he didn’t know when or if he would see her again. “What do you want?”

“I just want to talk. It’s been a long time since anyone’s heard from you.”

“I’ve been a little indisposed for the last few years.”

“Oh, I know. The real Caroline came here looking for you not a year ago. She left rather disappointed.”

“An unfortunate side effect of my incarceration. “

“I’ve known of you for a long time, I never thought I’d see you like this.”

“Like what?”

“You’ve given up. What happened to you?”

“If you know me so well, you already know the answer to that.”

“Touché. Let me ask you something, when you get out of here, will you do me a favor?”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“In time, you will. What do you say, if you’re out of here before the end of April 2019, will you do me a favor?”

“In the very unlikely event that I escape and my family is reunited within the next year, fine. I will owe you a favor.”

“Good.” Fake-Caroline said before her attention seemed to land on something else. “I have to go, I can’t stay in your mind for this long. Farewell Niklaus Mikaelson. I’ll see you soon.” She said and the fog surrounding Klaus’ sense dissipated.

Klaus woke up right as he heard Marcel walk down the steps.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

“It worked.” The witch said not looking up.

“Fantastic. “

“What did that spell do to my brother?” Finn asked from the doorway.

"I got him to agree to do something for me if he escapes by the end of next April." the devil said smiling. "Which he will."

“While they were talking, I basically put a marker on his soul. If he gets moved from that basement, she’ll be able to feel it.”

“And since the rest of the family is linked to him, it also tracks the rest of them. This way, I can have someone trail Hayley even if she gives us the slip.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out who the devil brought back to talk to the Mikaelsons, a familiar face shows up, and the Originals find out who else, besides the devil, is helping them.

**The Safe house**

Finn and Katherine dropped the Mikaelsons off at Hayley’s safe house and left to deal with ‘Hell business’. Before Finn drove away, in a moment of uncharacteristic pleasantry, he cryptically told his family he’d ‘see them soon’.

“What is it?” Elijah asked seeing the look on his younger brother’s face.

“Five years never felt so long. Thank you for not abandoning me.” he said looking between Elijah, Rebekah and Hayley.

“Well, we did consider it. The vote was rather close.” Rebekah and Elijah went into the house.

Hayley turned to look at Klaus who was still staring at the building. “You okay?”

“You mean considering the imprisonment, torture and forced isolation?”

“For what its worth, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

“I had moments of solace to sustain me. It’s because of them that I’m here now.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to see your little girl?” Hayley asked and Klaus could only nod. They went into the house and moved upstairs to one of the bedrooms. Hope was asleep on her bed; clearly she’d tried to stay awake until her mother returned. “Want me to wake her up?”

“No, let her sleep.”

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

“I didn’t exactly finish the job did I? Rebekah and Kol got away.”

“That’s the Mikaelsons. It’s hard to stop one, let alone the whole clan. Adding in this whole situation with the devil, if it can be believed, and most people would be dead.”

“I’m not most people. All I got was a tiny knife wound.”

Marcel nodded, willing to drop the issue until he smelled blood. Fresh blood. “Yeah, a knife wound that doesn’t appear to be healing.”

* * *

 

**Elsewhere**

“I dropped my siblings off that the safe house. I see Silas was nice enough to add some extra defenses to the cloaking spell.”

“I didn’t give him much of a choice. You know you could have stayed with them. They are your family.”

“The family that doesn’t seem to care about me.”

“There’s a thousand years of baggage between you five, and you guys aren’t exactly emotionally balanced. I’m just saying, I wouldn’t have dragged you back to Hell if you stayed for a few days.”

* * *

 

**Safe house**

The Mikaelsons were sitting in the living room trying to figure out what to do next. Four of them had fallen asleep five years ago and woke up as if not a day had passed. The fifth had spent five years, mostly alone not counting the hallucinations he had every few months for the last year, and his only plan during that time was escaping and finding his family. The family was reunited but restless and uneasy. None of them knew if they believed the whole Hell and the devil story or why the devil would care about them.

For the moment, the family sat drinking bourbon and trying to wrap their heads around what happened over the last two days. Their musings ended when they heard a knock at the door. They looked cautiously at the door before Hayley slowly walked over and opened the door. When Hayley opened the door, she was so surprised by who was standing there that she let go of the doorknob. The door flew open and everyone could see who it was.

“Davina?” Kol asked. His voice had a mix of hope and disbelief with just a smidgen of anger.

“Hi Kol.” Davina said with a small smile.

“How…. how are you here? Your soul…. it…”

“I don’t know.”

“I can answer that,” a voice said from behind Davina. Everyone was so shocked to see Davina, they didn’t noticed Jeremy walking up behind her. “May we come in?”

“Yes, of course.” Elijah said, relieved that Davina was alive and suspicious of Jeremy.

“Thanks.” Jeremy came in and sat down. “I guess I should start with Davina’s death. As you know, the Ancestors used something-“

“La Gemme Vitale” Kol interrupted.

“Yes, that. It didn’t tear her soul to shreds like you thought. It kinda just tore a piece off. It tore enough off so that she couldn’t be resurrected. Part of her soul stayed on the Ancestral Plane but most of it was sent to Hell. Last April, the devil let Davina out of Hell.”

“So the devil resurrected Davina. Why?”

“Davina was one of the few souls there your family knew and trusted. I’m also pretty sure she agreed that Davina didn’t deserve an eternity of torture in Hell.”

“Is this true darling?” Kol asked Davina who seemed reluctant to talk about it.

“Yes. I was stuck in Hell, it was horrible. This woman, she said her name was Katherine, she found me and told me her boss would let me out of Hell if I helped when the time came.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Kol said hugging her. He couldn’t believe she was alive. Freya and Elijah were both unsure of what to do. They didn’t kill Davina, but they were responsible for letting her soul get destroyed and sent to Hell. Kol realized what Davina had just said and got worried. “What does the devil need you to do?”

“Nothing for now.” Jeremy answered for her.

“How do you know what the devil wants?”

“Because she told me what she was planning before she brought anyone back.” Jeremy said. They looked at him in confusion. “Katherine gave you the run-down on why hell is being run by a different person now, right?”

“She said someone beat the original devil and became the devil.”

“Yeah, I was there when it happened.”

“So you know who the devil is.” Klaus concluded. Jeremy nodded but didn’t speak. “You won’t tell us though, will you?”

“I don’t have to. She’s on her way here as we speak.”

“What?”

“She wanted to talk to you. I mean, she went to a lot of work reuniting you five.” Jeremy said. “And before you panic, one if she wanted you dead, she would have killed you already. Two, she has no interest in your child other than making sure her family stays intact. And three, she’s not the only one coming here.”

“The council is coming?” Davina asked, unsure if she should be afraid.

“What council?”

“When we found out she was the devil, we swore an oath of secrecy. We also decided that, since we couldn’t leave her to do this all on her own and formed a council to help her. It’s made up of the devil and the seven other people who saw her beat Cade.”

“Who’s on the council?” Elijah asked, suspicious about the intentions of the group.

“Me, Matt, Damon, Stefan, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline and Valerie.”

“Valerie, the siphoner who helped remove Rebekah’s hex?”

“Yup.”

“So everyone in Mystic Falls that has tried to kill us except Tyler Lockwood and your sister. Fantastic.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and scoffed. “How many times do I have to say it? She doesn’t want you dead, so stop freaking out.” Jeremy then went upstairs to the room Hayley offered him.

Downstairs, the Mikaelson family was recovering from Davina and Jeremy’s arrival. Klaus was furious that the devil was on her way here, where his child was, with a group of people who tried to kill him in the past. “You’re missing the big picture here, brother. Katerina had mentioned we may have met the devil before. Which means-“

“Its likely that either Caroline or the Bennett witch are the devil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Davina's back, yay! For real though, I disliked her being brought back just to be used as leverage over Kol. We'll find out what the devil needs from her in a few chapters.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The Hollow is going to appear, but she’s not going to appear just yet. It’s also going to be a much different storyline. For simplicity, let’s say that Adam Folsom (the kid who went missing in 4x01) goes missing in the slight time jump during this chapter.

**The Safehouse**

The Mikaelson family sat anxiously on the porch the next morning. Today the family would get to meet Hope for the first time, and they had still had to plan what to do next. Adding to their stress was what Jeremy had told them last night. The devil was apparently on her way here with other people. Klaus wasn’t sure how he felt about Caroline or Bonnie being the devil. Neither was very devilish and, for at least one of the two, Klaus was worried what the job would do to her psyche.

The family discussion was interrupted when the front door opened. “Hey, everyone. Look who’s awake.” Hayley said, trying to nudge Hope forward.

"Hi." Hope said shyly.

"Hello." Klaus responded.

No else one quite knew what to say, so the family just looked at the girl. Hope began to feel weird, so she turned to her mother.

“Mom, can I go play in the garden?”

Hayley nodded and the girl walked off. The Mikaelsons, save Klaus, walked away to find something to do and give Klaus and Hayley some privacy.

“I know you’re about to accuse me of telling Hope you’re a monster or letting Mary tell her all about your misdeed. That’s not true. She doesn’t know your history. She knows you’re a hybrid, like me, and you’re very old. She’s seven, the rest of the not-so-nice truth can wait.”

“Yet, she fears me.”

“She’s a sensitive kid, and you’re not exactly calm right now. You were her fairytale prince Klaus. And now you’re real. It’s a lot to live up to.”

Klaus’ response was interrupted by Jeremy leaving the house. He was on the phone with someone and hung up when he saw Klaus. “I just walked into the middle of some family thing didn’t I?”

“You could say that.” Klaus said a little warily. He then asked the question he’d spent the night agonizing over. “When are your friends arriving?”

“Not for a few days.” Jeremy responded. “Most of us wanted to give you sometime to reconnect before just barging in on your lives.”

“Don’t I owe your boss something though? If the strange hallucination I had while imprisoned was accurate, I owe her a favor since I escaped from that prison before April.”

“She’s waited almost a year to see you. She can wait a few days.” Jeremy answered. “Plus, given your…. disposition, finding you isn’t that difficult.” As Jeremy was talking, the other Mikaelsons had slowly made their way back towards the trio. “Thank you for letting me stay. Now if you’ll excuse me, there's something I need to do and a promise I need to keep."

The family watched Jeremy leave before falling back into contemplative silence. Klaus saw Hope painting in the garden and left to attempt talking to her. The rest of the family watched for a few moments before dispersing.

* * *

 

**New Orleans-Two Days Later**

**Marcel’s Penthouse**

Marcel was pacing his apartment, waiting for Vincent to arrive. He’d called the witch earlier that morning when Sofiya’s wound hadn’t healed. Something about her injury seemed mystical, and what was the point in being king of the city if he couldn’t get answers when he wanted them? He was about to storm out and drag Vincent back to his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and found an annoyed Vincent standing there.

“It’s about time.”

“I’m sorry missing children is more important to me than your girlfriend. Why am I here?”

Marcel took a deep breath to calm himself and replied. “Come in. it’ll be easier to show you.” The two men walked into the apartment and upstairs to Marcel’s bedroom. Sofiya was asleep on the bed with a strange looking injury on her shoulder. “She was stabbed with…. something, and the wound hasn’t healed.”

Vincent bent down to look at it and looked back at Marcel. “Does she know what she was stabbed with? Or who stabbed her?”

“She said it was a knife.”

“Did it knock her out as well?”

Marcel chuckled. “No, she’s just sleeping. Should I wake her up?”

“Well, I’d rather perform any spells on her when she’s awake than risk her waking up mid-spell.”

Vincent went downstairs while Marcel woke Sofiya up. As she made her way downstairs, she seemed to be groggy and a little weak, which was surprising to everyone. “So what’s wrong with me?”

“I’m not exactly sure. What happened?”

“Kol came into the cemetery to rescue Rebekah, and I left. On my way out, I ran into this werewolf who tried to pick a fight. She threw this knife at me, I pulled it out. She then said something vague about how she was already dead and didn’t need to kill me. Then she walked away.”

“What did it look like?”

“It looked like a ceremonial dagger you’d use. I didn’t exactly take it with me.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with her or not?”

“Give me a second.” Vincent said before rubbing his hands together and murmuring in French He continued speaking as he held both hands above the wound. Both vampires watched in anticipation as Vincent worked. After a few moments, Vincent dropped his arm and sighed.

“This magic is different from anything I’ve come across. I don’t know how to reverse it.” He then looked at Marcel. “If the wolf who stabbed her claimed to be dead-“

“It might be the so-called devil. So what? I go looking for one woman I don’t know in a town full of people?”

“Well, there’s someone you do know. The vampire who stopped the bell. He can't be that hard to find.”

* * *

 

**Lafayette Cemetery**

 Jeremy walked down the rows of Lafayette cemetery looking for the right tombstone. “I thought your sister was the one who hung out in graveyards.” A voice said from behind him.

Jeremy turned and gave Damon a look. “She went there to think, I went there to get high. It must be a Gilbert thing.”

“Must be. Did you find it yet?”

“No, not yet. There’s a lot of people buried here and I couldn’t tell just anyone who’s grave I’m looking for. Did you find the knife?”

Damon smirked and held it up. “Unlike you, Jules was more than happy to tell me where she hid it. She didn’t even clean it.”

“Give it to me. We need it.” Jeremy took the blade out of Damon’s hand and walked away just as a few vampires found Damon and insisted he go talk to Marcel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Klaroline reunion yet :(. I promise, it's next chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Safehouse**

The Mikaelsons sat anxiously around the house. Jeremy said they had ‘a few days’ before the devil herself came to talk to them, but that wasn’t exactly a precise window of time. Everyday, they’d left one person to stand guard on the porch of the house in case another familiar face showed up. It had been three days since the younger Gilbert left. Shortly after eleven in the morning, Klaus’ cell beeped with a text message.

         >> **FROM UNKNOWN: Get everyone inside. You’re going to have visitors soon.**

Klaus relayed the information to his family, who cautiously made their way into the living room and stared anxiously out of the window. Sage, who had arrived at the safehouse with Finn the day before, was upstairs keeping Hope busy and distracted. Everyone held their breath as they heard two cars drive up and whoever was in them wordlessly exit the vehicles and walk up the steps. Even with their vampiric hearing, they jumped when they heard a knock at the door. Elijah was the closest, and stood to answer the door. Everyone let out a collective sigh when the door opened and Matt Donovan stood there with Bonnie and Stefan visible behind him.

“Hello Mr. Donovan.”

“Hey. I don’t suppose we could have this conversation inside?”

Elijah nodded and stepped out of the way. The three people standing in the doorway entered, followed by Valerie, Jeremy, and Alaric who was holding hands with a little brunette girl who looked to be about five. A second later, a little blonde girl around the same age came sprinting in, followed by a smiling Caroline.

Caroline bent down so that she was eye-level with the girl. “What have I told you about running?”

“Not to do it inside.” The little girl said not looking up.

Sage had walked downstairs when she heard the door open and spoke. “Come on, Lizzie, Josie. Let’s go upstairs and leave the grownups to talk.” Both girls smiled and ran upstairs.

Klaus found himself speechless. He didn’t think it was possible, but Caroline had grown even more beautiful and full of light since he last saw her. His memories and the fake-Caroline he saw during that hallucination, didn’t do her justice. He’d forgotten how awestruck seeing the sunlight bounce off her golden curls made him feel. He’d forgotten how her eyes lit up when she laughed at something.

Caroline stood up and faced the rest of the room. She caught Klaus’s eye and the hybrid started to speak. “Caroline, love, it’s good to-“

“What happened to you?” she blurted out.

“I was impri-“

“Not that, genius. I knew about that. I’m talking about this.” She said gesturing to all of him. “Did you go through a midlife crisis or get a personality transplant or something?” Everyone else looked between the pair shocked. “I mean, your hair looks ridiculous like this and I can’t believe you’re wearing that,” she said pointing to his shirt.

“Caroline, what are you talking about?” Bonnie asked.

“He’s Klaus but he doesn’t look or act like Klaus. I mean, he’s not even wearing a Henley. That’s like Damon wearing something other than black or Elijah wearing sweatpants!” Caroline said throwing her arms up in the air.

“Did you really help free my family just to critique my brother’s appearance?” Freya asked, not understanding the look Klaus was giving the blonde.

“No. But it did help diffuse the tension.” The blonde admitted smiling before turning back to Klaus. “Pod person attributes aside, its nice to see you.”

Klaus nodded speechless and everyone stood silent for a moment. Finally, Elijah spoke. “May I ask-“

“Which one of us is the devil?” Bonnie said.

“Why we helped free you?” Caroline said

“What we need your brother for?” Matt said.

“Why we brought Finn back?” Alaric said.

Elijah blinked for a moment. “All of those questions, yes. But I was going to ease into that. I was asking whose children just ran upstairs.”

“Oh.” Caroline said surprised. “It’s a long story, but they’re mine and Alaric’s.”

“I see.” Elijah said nodding.

“Why did you help us?” Freya asked.

“Well, seven of us did it because the eighth told us too.” Jeremy admitted shrugging.

“Why would she do that?”

“Many reasons.” Caroline answered. “The devil foresaw something. Something big is coming and your family are the ideal people to help fight it.”

“Why are we ideal?” Kol asked snorting.

“Among other things? You’re six of the strongest beings alive, which is why Finn is back. None of you want to die and the devil already owns three of your souls.” Stefan answered.

“Plus, Klaus does owe one of us a favor.”

“Speaking of souls, when are you going to let Davina go?” Kol asked.

“We can’t.” Caroline answered. “At least, not yet.”

“Why not?” Kol pushed.

Valerie sighed and began speaking. “There are a few ways someone gets sent to Hell. They either are unable to find peace because of unfinished business, like Matt’s sister Vicki or they cause so much pain and suffering on Earth that they need to be punished the next life, like Silas, Katherine, etc. But don’t worry, people can get out of Hell. “

“How?”

“A few ways.” Alaric answered. “Those with unfinished business resolve it. Someone alive but bound for Hell could commit some great self-sacrifice to cleanse their soul. The last way is basically good behavior. Prove to the devil you don’t deserve to suffer in Hell forever.”

“So give Davina a test to prove herself and let her move on!” Kol practically shouted.

“She’s a special case. Davina’s the exception, not the rule. Her soul was torn in two. She won’t be able to find peace until its intact. Besides, I would have thought you liked having her back.” Bonnie answered.

“Not if her death sends her back to Hell.”

“If she was sent to Hell again, we’d just let her back out. I think we can all agree, Davina doesn’t deserve to be in Hell. Even Damon, who doesn’t like anyone, likes her.”

“Where is Damon, may I ask?” Elijah asked.

“Running an errand.” Valerie said cryptically.

* * *

 

**NEW ORLEANS**

Damon grunted as he was dropped on the floor of Marcel’s penthouse. He got up and brushed imaginary dirt off his jacket. “Let me guess, something weird happened that your witchy buddy over there can’t explain.”

Marcel sighed and crossed his arms. “Let’s pretend I believe the ‘devil is real and is here’ story you and a few others have told me.”

“You mean the truth? Sure, let’s pretend that.” Damon snarked back. “How else do you explain your buddy coming back from the dead and then being destroyed with Hellfire?”

Marcel was about to reply when some occurred to him. “You weren’t there when that happened. How do you know about it?”

“I told you. The devil and I go way back.” Damon said vaguely. “Now, why am I here?”

“One of my vampires was attacked and she’s not healing. My ‘witchy friend’ as you put it, doesn’t recognize the magic and can’t explain it.”

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. Let me see the victim.” Marcel looked ready to deny him when Damon continued. “I can’t give a solution if I don’t know what the problem is.”

Marcel nodded begrudgingly before leading Damon upstairs. Vincent guessed he and Marcel were finished and left. Marcel opened the door to his bedroom where Sofiya was reading a book. Damon walked over to the woman and pulled up one of her sleeves.

He snorted before turning back to Marcel.

“Wow. Someone really hates you.”

“You know what’s happening to her?” Marcel asked.

“No, but I know what caused that.”

“Then tell us how to fix it!” Sofiya said yelling.

“You can’t fix it, you have to undo it. There’s only one person who can.”

“Who?”

“The devil, but she hates you. She’s never even met you, and she hates you. Then again, it’s not surprising. She did resurrect your friend just to destroy him in front of you. You don’t know it yet, but you brought this upon yourself.“

“She?”

“Yeah. Devil’s a woman, and she’s hot, objectively speaking. She went to high school with my brother. We even made out a few times. Although, she wasn’t Satan at the time.”

“Wait. You said I haven’t met her. Why would she hate me this much?”

“Let’s see. Your actions almost got people very important to her killed. You, as you currently are, are in the way of her plans. Oh, and then there’s the Mikaelson matter.”

“The Mikaelson matter?” Marcel asked. “I beat with the family that tore this town apart. I brought down the Mikaelsons! I put Klaus down and I kept him down. I-“

“Pissed off the most powerful being on earth in the process. “ Damon finished for him. “I told you what I know. Whether you believe me or not is your problem. Bye.” He walked out of the room and down the loft stairs, waiting for Marcel to chase after him.

“Wait.” Marcel’s voice called and Damon smirked. People were so predictable. “How do I contact her? I mean, she wouldn’t order Sofiya’s attack and then just walk away.”

“That’s actually something she would do.” Damon responded. Messing with the ‘King of New Orleans’ was fun so far. “But you might be able to talk with some people who can give you better answers or convince her.”

“How?”

“That’s up to you. You have to decide how much you’re willing to….concede in order to help your girlfriend. When you meet their price, they’ll find you.” Damon said and walked out the door.

* * *

 

**Safehouse**

“All right. Enough of this cryptic bullshit. What do you want from Klaus and which one of you is the devil?” Hayley said, getting annoyed at receiving non-answers and half-truths.

“Well, that’s between me and him, isn’t it?” one of the women said.

Five of the Mikaelsons and Hayley all turned to look at her. Finally Rebekah spoke.

“You…you’re…you’re the-“ she stuttered out.

“Yup, I’m the devil. I bet you didn’t see that coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER!!!  
> I know, I suck for not revealing who it is yet. Who do you think it is? Bonnie or Caroline?


	12. Chapter 12

“Yup, I’m the devil. I bet you didn’t see that coming.” Caroline said smiling.

Kol and Rebekah looked at her in disbelief, Klaus looked concerned, Freya gave her a calculating look and Elijah looked intrigued. Hayley, given her past with Caroline, rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

“Forgive my skepticism Miss Forbes but-“

“Let me guess, you’d like proof of my claim?”

Elijah nodded, along with Freya and Kol. Klaus was still speechless. “Could I trouble you for some coffee please?” She asked the Mikaelsons. Klaus left the room and came back moments later with a mug. Caroline turned to the others who came with her. “Could you give us a minute?” Bonnie nodded and ushered the others out.

After Matt closed the front door behind him, Caroline turned back to look at the Mikaelsons. She stood with a pensive look on her face before reaching out and grabbing Elijah’s arm. Everyone stilled and looked concerned once Elijah began screaming. Ten to fifteen seconds later, Caroline let go of his arm.

“Wa….was that….was I –“

“In Hell? Yeah, but only in your mind. It was more of an imprint of Hell. There’s also this.” Caroline said before ripping her heart out without preamble. She dropped it onto the floor as everyone sat shocked. “I could continue but I think this was traumatizing enough.”

“Sorry to be a stickler but that doesn’t prove you’re the devil. It proves you have psychic abilities and are some type of immortal.” Kol said speaking up.

“Fine.” Caroline rolled her eyes before turning towards the doorway. “Get in here.” The others turned to see whom she was talking to. “I believe you’ve met my friend here.”

“You could say that.” Klaus said glaring at the man in question.

“He is obviously dead. A number of you watched him die, yes?” Klaus, Freya and two others nodded. “He was sent to my domain afterwards. It is true; a rare few others do have the two previous abilities I showed. But only the devil can do this.”

Caroline waved her hand towards the man as she took a sip of her coffee. Flames engulfed him. By the time she put the mug back down, Lucien Castel’s body had been completely destroyed by Hellfire. The Mikaelsons looked at her in awe. “Is he gone forever now?” Rebekah asked.

“No. I just sent his soul back to hell to be tortured for the rest of eternity.” Caroline admitted before raising her voice. “You can come back in now.”

The rest of the visitors from Mystic Falls filed back into the house.

“I apologize for questioning the validity of your claims, Miss Forbes.”

“Please, Elijah. Call me Caroline. And I don’t blame you. I didn’t believe it at first either.”

“Question still stands, why did you help us?” Rebekah asked. “Your relationship with Nik alone isn’t enough to justify all the trouble you went to.”

“I told you, you’re powerful beings, meaning you are important pieces that I didn’t want off the board just yet.”

“Yeah, but if we died, you could’ve just brought us back since most of our souls belong to you.” Kol reasoned. “That can’t be the only reason.”

“It’s not. I never said it was. “ Caroline answered. “I did it to knock Marcel down a few pegs. I did it because I have no interest in either of the two remaining sirelines dying. I did it because I could. I’m the most powerful being in existence. So when I looked around and decided what I wanted was your family free and awake, there was in actuality nothing that could stop me.” she then took a breath and turned to look at Elijah. “Besides, I agree with what you said to Marcel the other day.” Elijah looked at her confused so she felt the need to elaborate. “Sorry, I’m not omnipotent, but when I focus on certain people I can see what’s happening around them. Obviously, I wanted to make sure all of you got out of New Orleans safely, so I saw your fight with Marcel before Qetsiyah stepped in.”

“Wait? That was Qetsiyah?” Hayley asked.

“She prefers Tessa, but yes.” Caroline answered before starting to feel nervous. “Now, not to be rude, but I need to talk to your brother alone.”

* * *

 

Caroline and Klaus walked through the garden, each unsure of what to say. Klaus was still struggling to comprehend Caroline being the ruler of Hell and Caroline didn’t know how to begin the awkward conversation that was about to follow. When Caroline saw a patch of pretty flowers, she came up with a funny, and appropriate, icebreaker.

“Do you know what I wanted to be when I was a kid? I wanted to be Persephone. You know, on the one hand she’s the goddess of spring and loves flowers but on the other, she’s the Queen of Hell and was terrifying. I guess I liked the contrast even when I was a kid.”

“Didn’t Hades kidnap Persephone and force her to be the Queen of Hell?”

“There are different versions of the myth. Some say he kidnapped her but she ate the pomegranate seeds willingly. Others say he tricked her. But there’s a third version.”

“Oh really? Do tell.” Klaus had heard the myth several times but wanted to know where Caroline was headed with this.

“In one version, Hades isn’t involved as much. Persephone finds the entrance to the Underworld and decided to check it out. She likes the Underworld so much she decides to stay and Hades is just as perplexed as everyone else. Then her mother and Zeus got involved and the rest of the myth is pretty universal. Anyway, that was my favorite myth growing up, the flowery Queen of death.”

“And now you’re the perky blonde ruler of Hell. I have to admit, when I heard there was a new devil, I never would have thought it was you. You’re too-“

“Full of light? Yeah, it surprised Vicki too. Then I realized Cade was dark and sadistic because of what happened to him, not because he was the devil. I realized I could maybe do some good, even if I’m supposed to be bad. I mean, there are quite a few people in Hell that don't deserve to be there.”

“I don’t think you could ever be evil, love.” Klaus said. “You barely have it in you to be selfish.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell you the main reason I helped your family.” Caroline said looking sheepish. “I couldn’t exactly leave my last love rotting in a dungeon. And if you died, there was no way I was going to give you back.”

“Sweetheart, did you-“

“You rescued me from Alaric and the dead witches. It was my turn to save you.”

Klaus looked at Caroline for a moment before closing the distance between them. He grabbed her face and pulled it close to his, kissing her. Several minutes later, they broke for air. “Caroline, love, you are amazing.”

“I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?” Caroline said smiling.

“I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I owe you a favor. I’m many things, including a man who pays his debts.”

“You do, but we don’t need to talk about that now.” Caroline spent the next hour giving Klaus the cliff notes version of how she became the devil and a few other things, like how Stefan became human and Elena woke up.

* * *

 

**Inside the Safe house**

After Caroline and Klaus left, the rest of the group began talking. No one really knew what to say about Caroline taking over Hell so they stuck to small talk and catching up with one another. Nearly an hour passed before the mystery was too much for Rebekah. “Do you know what Caroline needs from Nik?” she asked Stefan.

“No, she’s been quite tight-lipped on the matter. I know she intends to use all your blood for something, but from Klaus she needs something else.”

Rebekah was going to ask another question when Kol interrupted forcefully “The blonde devil is your girlfriend right?”

“Ex-fiancé.”

“Whatever. What does she want from Davina?”

“Probably nothing. Knowing Caroline, she’ll find a way to reunite Davina’s soul then give her an easy task to ‘cleanse it’ like making a flower bloom or something.“ Stefan answered truthfully. “All she’s waiting on is a way to out Davina’s soul back together.”

“How would she do that?” Davina asked from the doorway. Most of the council made her nervous, except Bonnie, and surprisingly, Caroline. They made her feel safe for some reason.

“I’m not sure.” Stefan said.

“I wanted to talk to you about that.” Jeremy said. “There’s something I need to ask you and Kol.”

“What is it mate?”

Jeremy sat looking awkward as he tried to find the best way to ask his question. “I don’t know how to ask this, so I’m sorry if it sounds blunt. Where is Davina buried?”

“Lafayette cemetery. “

“I know that, I spent two days searching it. Where in the cemetery though?”

“Why?”

Jeremy was about to answer when Alaric’s phone beeped. The former teacher pulled it from his pocket, read briefly before turning to the others. “That was Damon. Someone needs to grab Caroline.”

“No need, Ric.” Caroline said walking into the house followed by Klaus. “What’s up?”

“I just heard from Damon. She’s starting to be affected and he’s beginning to panic.”

“Good.” Caroline said deviously. “What exactly did he tell him?”

“Basically, if he wants to undo it, he’ll need to make some concessions.”

“What are bloody hell are you talking about?”

“I’m a neurotic control freak, and Katherine helped me plan this. Do you really think I’d break Klaus out or wake any of you up without having a plan in case Marcel tried to retaliate?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!!! It's Caroline (which most of you guessed). But Elena's awake? Stefan and Caroline broke up? Why do they need to find Davina's grave? What does Caroline want from Marcel? 
> 
> Seriously, I want to know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

**Mystic Falls-One Year Ago**

After Vicki showed up on the Salvatore’s doorstep, a steady stream of not-so-dearly departed friends and enemies began filtering into Mystic Falls. Most, except Vicki, Katherine and Qetsiyah had been sent packing. Aja’s dead coven, Klaus’ dead hybrids and the remaining tomb vampires were of no real use to anyone at the moment. Katherine and Qetsiyah were at least powerful or resourceful. Vicki, well, no one was willing to separate the Donovan siblings just yet. Regardless of everyone’s opinion about Vicki, Matt deserved to see his sister again.

In the aftermath of Cade’s demise a few big changes occurred. Nothing quite as serious as Hell changing hands, but to the residents of Mystic Falls, they were important. With Qetsiyah’s help, a little bit of luck and no shortage of determination on several people’s parts, Enzo was returned to the land of the living. Stefan, for one, felt a huge burden off his shoulders, although he felt immense guilt for killing Enzo in the first place. Bonnie, of course, was ecstatic to have the love of her life back.

Caroline and Stefan’s relationship deteriorated around the time of Enzo’s resurrection. With no Cade lingering over everyone’s heads, Stefan living on borrowed time and everyone’s realization that Caroline possessed the ultimate trump card, their relationship kind of fizzled out. In hindsight, Caroline realized it was adrenaline over various supernatural threats that forced her and Stefan together. First it was Kai, then the Heretics and Rayna, before finally the sirens and Cade making Caroline and Stefan feel like they needed to be together since they could die at any moment. Four days after Vicki’s arrival, Stefan and Caroline both acknowledged the eventual death of their romance.

After days of trying to find one spec of evidence as to where the Originals were, the blonde was taking a break. Yes, the Mikaelsons were important for events to come, but this was a marathon not a sprint. As she allowed herself to relax, a thought occurred to Caroline. She sat up and thought about it before turning to Bonnie.

“Something just occurred to me. It might be crazy, but it’s worth a shot, right?”

“What is it?”

“If we could bring Enzo back, who was killed and his body was burned, there has to be a way to wake Elena up. I mean, resurrection has to be harder than undoing a sleeping spell, right?”

“Right. But Kai said there was no way to undo it.”

“Consider the source though. Kai wanted revenge. Saying there’s no loophole made it seem really stupid to even try. He might be a sociopath but he knew we weren’t. We wouldn’t have risked it. I mean there has to be someone other than him who knows something about that spell.”

Both women got a second wave of energy and began digging through the library with vigor. They were speed-reading through grimoires when Damon walked in.

“Did the library explode?” he said looking between Caroline and Bonnie. “You two better clean this up.”

“We know Damon, we just-“

“We might be able to wake up Elena.”

“Kai said it couldn’t be done unless Bonnie died.”

“Yeah, the person who wanted both of you to suffer said that. Kinda makes him an unreliable source.” Caroline answered. “Besides, we have the power of Hell behind us. “

* * *

 

**A few months later (October 14, 2018)**

The plan to resurrect Elena was over before it really began. Luckily, the Gemini witch who created the spell Kai used was sent to Hell after the Other Side collapsed. She was more than willing to tell the group anything they wanted to know provided she was let out of Hell. After a great deal of debate, the devil decided to allow Edith Parker to find peace once Elena was awoken.

The answers Caroline and Bonnie got were astounding. Kai really did hedge all his bets on the Mystic Falls Gang believing him. The spell reversal would be too much for one witch, but there wasn’t exactly a shortage of witches in Hell. Even without aid from Silas or Tessa, they would have had more than enough power. He also powered his spell using the wrong thing.

Despite his hatred for the Gemini coven, Kai was predictable in the same way they were. The coven used celestial events to power almost every major spell they cast, and Elena’s coma was no different. Kai powered the spell using the conjunction of Mercury and Venus, an event that took place two days before Alaric’s wedding. All they had to do was use that same event to remove the spell on Elena. In the five years since Jo’s death, such a conjunction had occurred over ten times.

Everyone stood anxiously around the quarry, hoping their efforts would be successful. True, if this didn’t work, there were ways of bringing both girls back and another conjunction was set to occur three months later, but most of the group was tired of waiting. Caroline had almost bitten the last of her fingernails off when Elena gasped and sat up.

“What? Where am I? Is Bonnie…?”

“I’m right here Elena.” Bonnie said running over. “It took some time, but we finally found a way to wake you up.” The Bennett witch was on the verge of crying.

“How…. how long?”

“Just over five years.” Caroline answered. “And there’s a lot you need to know.” the blonde handed Elena a journal. “But I’ll give you the highlights. Stefan’s human, I gave birth to Alaric twins, it’s a long story, Tyler died, and-“

“Blondie over here is the devil.” Damon said interrupting.

“Do you seriously think I’m going to fall for that Damon?” Elena asked before she noticed the serious looks on everyone’s faces. “Wait…. really?”

“Yeah. “ Caroline answered not looking at the brunette. The blonde felt uncomfortable near Elena all of a sudden and began looking for an excuse to leave. “Like I said, you missed a lot. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a prison break to plan.”

* * *

 

**February 2019**

“Dare I ask what that is?” Bonnie asked Caroline who was holding a strange-looking dagger in her hands.

“My contingency plan.” The blonde said not looking up. “I don’t like dealing with so many unknown variables.”

“What unknown variables? You have a literal army willing to help you, an artifact that could level New Orleans and you’ve spent half a year planning this. What's left?”

“Everyone else. People are unpredictable. I can’t be absolutely sure Isobel or Brady won’t ruin the plan just to spite me. I can’t guarantee Elijah will believe we’re on their side. I also can’t ensure that Marcel doesn’t kill Klaus between Damon’s arrival and his family’s. I needed a way to keep him in New Orleans after they escaped.”

“Care, you’re being paranoid. Things will work out. That still doesn’t tell me what that is.” Bonnie said, attention still on the weapon.

“It’s how I’m going to convince Marcel to allow the Originals into New Orleans for three days.” Caroline answered. “In return, I’ll undo the effects of this weapon.”

“Bon, Blondie’s decided to be a little more Satanic when dealing with Marcel. I’ve found its better not to ask.” Damon said from the doorway, noticing how Bonnie was about to ask Caroline the question again.

“I’ve lost too many people already, I won’t lose anyone else.” Caroline said before noticing the scared look on Bonnie’s face. “I had Tessa bind my blood and one of Seline’s claws to the other bone dagger, then I gave it a new handle.”

“Caroline, what does that weapon do?” Stefan who’d been listening asked worriedly.

“It marks the person’s soul for Hell and causes a slow and painful death for the victim.”

“Wow, Barbie. You and hybrid Ken really are meant to be.” Damon said.

“Laugh all you want Damon. It won’t change my mind. “ Caroline said before leaving the room. A few moments later, Bonnie ran up behind the blonde and pulled her aside.

“Care, wait. Why is saving Klaus so important to you? I know you need his blood, and you have feelings for him, but this goes way beyond all of that.”Bbonnie wanted to support her friend, but she was worried Caroline would lose too much of her humanity trying to rescue Klaus.

“I think you know why. I love him, I’m in love with him and by the time I realized it, he’d already been trapped in that dank dungeon for three years. I can’t just leave him there.” Caroline said, she noticed Bonnie didn’t seem all that convinced. “He’s my Enzo, ok? If something happens to him, if he dies, I don’t think I can survive it.”

“But you could bring him back. If he died that is.”

“That doesn't make it any easier." Caroline said. “Marcel’s had four years to do the right thing, if he wants to save his girlfriend, he’ll have to meet my price.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, I only brought Elena back this early so I wouldn't forget to do it later.


	14. Chapter 14

“What exactly did you do, Miss Forbes?” Elijah asked, concerned about Caroline escalating an already tense situation.

“Silas put a tracking spell on Marcel’s girlfriend the night you all were woken up. He then told Jules where said girlfriend was so Jules could stab her with a very specific, and nasty if I do say so myself, weapon which is causing Sofiya’s slow and agonizing death as we speak. I’m the only one who can remove and/or cure her, so he has to either negotiate with me or watch her die.”

“Woah. That’s like really dark.” Davina said from next to Kol.

“I’m the devil.”

* * *

 

**Davila Estate**

A man dressed in all black stood facing an altar. His plans to resurrect the Hollow had almost come to fruition. Four of the five children he’d chosen for the sacrifice had already been brought to him; all he required now was the impossible child, Hope Mikaelson. Attempts to locate the girl had been unsuccessful thus far, but he had faith. The Hollow, uninhibited by the Ancestors, would find and claim the girl.

The man was torn from his musings as Adam Folsom began to stir awake. Rolling his eyes, the man turned towards the boy and performed another sleeping spell on him. He hoped that the Hollow would rise soon; he could only hold Vincent and the other witches off for so long.

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

Marcel sat in Rousseau’s trying to drink his satanic issues away. After Damon left, Marcel sought out every witch he could find, threatening their lives if they couldn’t give him a way to save Sofiya. Every witch returned with the same answer. The magic was something they hadn’t seen before and no witch in the city knew how to reverse the dagger’s effects.

“What’s wrong man?” Josh asked when he noticed Marcel seemed less Marcel-like.

“The devil’s still screwing with me.”

“How? I thought he got what he wanted when Klaus and his family left.”

“Apparently not. According to…. a source, she’s a real vindictive bitch. “

“She?”

“Yeah, the devil’s a woman, go figure. Anyway, she’s trying to fuck with me but I’m not worth a face-to-face meeting.”

“Of course you aren’t. Why would she meet someone she already has by the balls?” A voice said from behind him. Both vampires turned and saw Silas. “Your girlfriend is dying, the devil is the only one who can reverse it, and she owes you nothing.”

“Yet she still wants something from me.” Marcel responded. “So, she doesn’t have me completely by the balls.”

“Oh, she does. She can and will take what she wants with or without you. See, this isn’t about you, or who rules New Orleans or Sofiya and the slow, agonizing death that awaits her. Those are all just collateral damage.”

“What are you saying?”

“How did she say it? Oh, yeah. You’re, to quote the devil herself, ‘not even worth the calories I’d burn killing you’. End quote.” Silas finished his drink and walked out of the bar.

“Wait!” Marcel said running after him. “What does she want from me?”

“What makes you think I know?” Silas said before teleporting away.

* * *

 

Marcel shook his head in annoyance and headed home. Sofiya had continued to grow weaker in the last day, but other than her wound not healing, nothing was physically wrong with her. The weakness she was experiencing could be solved with a nice, fresh serving of human blood. On his way home, Marcel found and compelled two tourists to follow him.

The female vampire turned when she heard the door open and smirked when she saw Marcel wasn’t alone. “You have a take-out place now?”

“Nah. But I figure, special circumstances and all that.” Marcel replied back smiling.

Sofiya rushed towards one of the tourists and tore into his throat. A few seconds later, his body it the ground. Before his friend could react, Sofiya tore into him and killed the second tourist.

“Wow. Someone was hungry.” Marcel said from the sidelines. “Feeling better?”

“Actually, I- “

Her response was cut off when she felt a sudden and indescribable pain overcome her entire body. She collapsed on the floor soon after. Marcel watched, frozen for a second as she convulsed, before moving towards the woman. She stopped seizing after about a minute, and just lay on the floor panting.

“What just happened?”

“I don’t know. It was like…every nerve in my body was set on fire at once. Like every single inch of me was being burned alive.” Sofiya answered, staring up at the ceiling. “Does my wound look different?” she asked it almost as an afterthought.

Marcel moved the woman’s jacket and shirt out of the way to check the injury. Her wound had begun to fester, if she were human, he would have said it was infected. The veins around her wound had become discolored and the discoloration was traveling down her arm. He didn’t know if Sofiya had become numb to the pain or if she was still in shock from her seizure that it simply didn’t register. “It looks…. it looks a lot worse. I…. I think I’m gonna hunt Damon down for answers again.” Marcel gave her one last look before storming out, determined to find answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Hollow's followers are doing creepy cult things, and Sofiya's getting worse. 
> 
> BTW, I don't know how well I conveyed this because I didn't want to be too gross or graphic, but Sofiya's wound at the moment is displaying similar characteristics to necrosis (i.e. her healthy tissue is slowly dying or being eaten away by the infected tissue of her wound). Don't look up a picture of it because it's very gross.


	15. Chapter 15

**Safe House**

“Speaking of Sofiya” Caroline said facing Jeremy and holding a hand out, “I’m gonna need that blade.” Jeremy reached into his jacket and pulled out the dagger. She then turned to face the Mikaelsons. “I need Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus’ blood.”

“Why?” Hayley asked.

“Because they’re the only Originals who’s sirelines are intact. Sofiya has to be descended from one of you three.”

“But my sire line was broken, love.” Klaus said interrupting.

“Your blood would still be in her system. Look, I know what I’m doing, ok?” Caroline said before looking at the trio as a whole. “So, are you going to give me your blood or do we need to do this the hard way?”

The three siblings looked at each other before each bit into their wrists and dripped their blood into a bowl Bonnie was holding. “May I ask what you are going to use our blood for?”

“Right now, I just want to see how she’s doing. “ Caroline said as she placed the dagger into the pool of blood. “The blade has its own natural progression, but should the need arise, I can speed up or slow down her deterioration.” Caroline then looked into the bowl before clicking her tongue and saying, “Wow. Rookie mistake there, Marcel.” She rolled her eyes before going upstairs to see how her girls were.

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

Damon was once again abducted by Marcel’s people and thrown into the man’s apartment. Damon didn’t even try to pick himself up off the floor; he just rolled over and saw an irritated looking Marcel.

“What happened?”

“Why do you think something did?” Marcel asked, wary of not knowing Damon’s motives or allegiances.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, shall we?” Damon answered, finally standing up. “You dislike me, and I don’t really see the point in liking you. Which means you dragged me here because you need answers from me, which means something happened. What is it?”

“She’s gotten worse.”

“I already told you, I can’t fix her. What do you want?”

“Answers, like you said. What does that blade do?”

“I don’t really know. You see, I’m like 80% sure that the only person the devil hates more than me is you, so I try not to get on her bad side.”

“I thought you and her went way back?”

“That doesn’t mean we’re friends. You and Klaus go way back and you want to kill him.” Damon shot back. “This is getting us nowhere. What exactly happened?”

“I brought Sofiya a few tourists to snack on. As soon as she was done, she had a weird seizure and now-“

“Wait, you gave her fresh blood?” Damon interrupted. “It never occurred to you that, I don’t know, maybe that’s a bad idea?”

“What was I supposed to do, let her desiccate?”

“I don’t know. Continue.”

“She had a weird seizure and it looks like an infection is spreading through her body. It’s a little nasty.”

“That doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

“You’re the only person I met, besides Silas, that knows what’s going on, and he’s a dick. So you’re going to tell me what I want to know.”

“All I know is that the dagger she was stabbed with is killing her. I know it’s killing her because the devil used it to kill one of my ex’s. I know she’s the only one who can reverse it. “

“But someone can give me a better answer? That’s what you said.”

“Yeah, but good luck finding them. No one’s seen Anna or whats-her-face in months. That leaves the devil herself, who won’t come until you give her what she wants.”

* * *

 

**Safe House**

Caroline opened one of the doors upstairs quietly and watched. It seemed Hope had really taken to Josie and Lizzie, despite the age difference between them. All three girls seemed content in their imaginary little worlds. Caroline was about to leave the girls to their fun when Josie turned around.

“Mommy! Come play with us.”

“Maybe in a minute. Who’s your new friend?” Caroline said looking between her girls and the youngest Mikaelson.

“Hi, I’m Hope.” The girl said shyly.

“Hi Hope. My name is Caroline. I’m a friend of your dad’s and your Uncle Elijah. ”

“Really?” the girl’s face lit up.

“Yeah. They used to live near me before they moved to New Orleans.” Caroline said.

“Are you a hybrid like my parents? Or a witch like Aunt Freya? Are you a vampire?”

“Hope, don’t overwhelm Caroline with questions.” Klaus said from behind Caroline. The blonde turned to face him, and gave him a significant look. Hope looked a little saddened by her father’s words.

The hybrid didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little wary of allowing Hope to be around Caroline. It was nothing against the blonde, but she was the devil, and he wasn’t sure how much Hayley had told their daughter about anything that happened before her birth.

“It’s okay, Hope. There’s nothing wrong with being curious. I used to be a vampire like your uncles, but then a lot of boring and technical stuff happened, so I’m not a vampire anymore. I’m a psychic.”

“Really?” Hope asked, eyes lighting up.

“Yeah. “ Caroline said nodding. “I’ll prove it. I want you to think of…. a color. Write it down and hand it to Sage.” Hope complied and Caroline watched with a small smile. She closed her eyes for a moment and said, “All right…I’m getting something. The color is…blue.” Caroline opened her eyes. Sage opened the folded piece of paper and showed it to the others. Written in small, neat letters was the word ‘blue’.

“Wow! That’s really cool!” hope said excitedly. “Dad, did you know she could do that?”

“She told me a few minutes ago.”

“Do you read people’s minds all the time?” Hope asked.

“No, that would be kind of rude wouldn’t it? I try to stay out of other people’s minds, but if someone needs my help, I might take a peak.”

“Mommy, who’s he?” Lizzie said looking up at Klaus.

“Hello little one. My name is Klaus. I’m a friend of your mom’s.” Klaus said bending down so he could look Lizzie and Josie in the eye.

“Uncle Damon doesn’t like you very much.” Josie blurted out.

“Well, your uncle Damon is rather silly.” Klaus replied back.

“Do you like my mommy?”

“Your mommy is very nice, and we’ve been friends for a long time.”

“Are you gonna be mean to Mommy like Sybil?”

“Girls, that’s enough questions for right now, okay?” Caroline said as Klaus gave her a strange look. “The grown-ups are done with their boring talk, so we can go downstairs.”

“Yay! “ the twins yelled like they hadn’t spent sixteen hours straight in a car with most of the people downstairs. They ran downstairs and Caroline heard the twins excitedly tell Hope about everyone.

“Who’s Sybil, love?”

“A siren that used to work for Cade. She and her adopted sister tried…they almost killed my girls.”

* * *

 

**New Orleans-The Abattoir**

The abandoned compound, former home and headquarters of the Mikaelson family, sat silent and still. Since the night the Founder’s Bell was rung, no one had entered the dilapidated building, by order of Marcel. The servants of Hell saw no purpose in moving the bell, and so it sat, assembled but unused in the eerie house.

A gust of wind blew through the courtyard and when it died down, two people were standing in front of the bell.

“So that’s why the bell was rung here.” The woman on the right said.

“Of course. Who wants to waste time driving?” said the woman on the left. She began to head towards the door. “I believe we have a certain King of New Orleans to find.”

“Are you sure this will work? I mean, are you sure he won’t-”

“Realize who he’s talking to? Nope. That’s the best part of this whole situation. When people picture the devil, they never imagine a small-town beauty queen like me.” Caroline said smiling.

“But he’ll see your face.”

“And? It’s not like he can kill me.”

* * *

 

**New Orleans- Marcel’s Loft**

“Are you serious right now?” Vincent asked Marcel incredulously. “You want me to find two people, out of seven billion, and all you have are first names?”

Marcel nodded, looking annoyed. “Damon said they could give me answers.”

“Damon said. Did Damon say anything else? How do you even know anything he said is the truth? Do you have any idea how many people named Anna there are in the world? He didn’t even give you a second name. I mean, do you even know their last names?” Marcel shook his head. “You know this is crazy right?”

“Excuse me, gentlemen.” A voice called from the doorway. They turned and saw a young blonde woman standing next to a brunette around the same age. “My name is Caroline this is Georgie. A friend of a friend said you might need our help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, things are about to get interesting.....For the record, yes, the Anna mentioned is vampire from season 1


	16. Chapter 16

Marcel and Vincent stood for a moment before jumping into action. The King of New Orleans walked forward in an attempt to intimidate them. “What makes you think I need your help?”

“You both need our help. You just don’t know it yet.”

“That doesn’t explain who you are or why you think you need our help.”

“Caroline and I work for….a very old organization called the Armory. We’ve…. kept an eye on the supernatural world for some time. Our organization is not stupid. We have our ways of knowing what happened last week.” Georgie said, barely keeping a straight face.

“Before you speed over here and attempt to kill or threaten us, I should warn you. We’ve figured out how to protect ourselves from every supernatural threat, including you.” Caroline said.

“Well, come in and give me some answers then.”

Both women stepped into the apartment, and Caroline spoke again. “So, would you like to discuss what occurred or shall we see Ms. Voronova’s injury first?”

“How do you know she is injured?” Vincent asked.

“There’s very little we don't know. We didn’t drive here because the Mikaelson family is once again at large; we’re after a much bigger threat. “

“The devil.”

“Yes. Between Ms. Voronova’s state and what may be coming, a trip to the Big Easy was necessary.”

Vincent thought for a second before an idea came to him. “Does the devil have anything to do with the missing children?”

Georgie and Caroline looked at another before Georgie spoke. “I don’t think so. Children’s souls have no value to the devil, any sins they commit before a certain age would be written off as ‘they didn’t know better’. She’s more interested in the guilty and the corrupt dying than a bunch of children.”

“Shall we?” Caroline said, gesturing upstairs. Marcel nodded and led both women upstairs. When Caroline entered the room, she looked Sofiya over. Facing the vampire, she spoke. “My associate and I may be able to shed some light on your situation. May I see your wound?”

Sofiya nodded and shrugged off her jacket. The wound itself looked the same, but the veins surrounding it had turned almost black and the skin around it became discolored. It looked worse than after her seizure but not much worse.

“She modified it.” Caroline said, mostly to herself.

“Modified what?” Sofiya asked.

“That wound, the weapon that made it has existed for centuries, much longer than the Originals. Initially, it was a simple dagger that could kill an entity from Hell, like an escaped soul. Any being not from Hell simply received a stab wound, one that would heal normally. Based on what’s happening to you, the devil somehow made the weapon dangerous to everyone. Probably by binding some rather nasty things to the blade.” Caroline answered before turning to Marcel. “Has the wound always looked like this?”

“No. It was just a wound that didn’t heal. Then, she became weak so I got her some fresh blood. She had a reaction and the wound got worse, her flesh started to rot.”

“That’s not a surprising reaction.” Georgie said and Marcel turned to glare at her. “If this weapon is meant to kill her slowly, any attempts to make Sofiya stronger would cause her to deteriorate faster.”

Caroline sat silent for a moment before turning to Marcel and curiously ask. “What did you do?”

“What do you mean?”

“What did you do to make the devil so angry? This, what’s happening to her, its not business, its personal. If it was business, Sofiya would have died days ago, the devil is drawing this out. ”

“Damon said something similar.”

“Damon? As in Damon Salvatore?” both men nodded. “And you believed him?” both men nodded.

“Why shouldn’t we? He stopped the bell from being rung.”

“The only reason Damon’s not already in Hell is because of a loophole. Did it ring at all?”

“Yeah, it rang 11 times. Although, he seemed unhappy about it.”

“Well, duh. 12 rings brings Hellfire, 11, well, 11 rings is way worse for you.”

“Why?”

“Eleven rings opens a portal to Hell. Now she, and any dead enemy of yours she picks, can come visit. So I’ll ask again, what did you do?”

“I helped break Klaus’ sireline, I became stronger than an Original and defeated the Mikaelsons. I took back my city, and for five years, while his family was comatose, I kept Klaus Mikaelson as a prisoner, and as a trophy, and as collateral in case anyone ever tried to save his family. Only one person ever came looking.”

“Well, that explains it then.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just a theory we’ve had.” Georgie quickly said before turning to Caroline. “We saw what we needed to. Let’s go.”

“Aren’t you going to help her?”

“We have. We told you why she’s not healing. Neither of us promised a solution. Only the devil can heal her, Damon was correct about that. Besides, we have what we needed.”

“What did you need?” Vincent asked.

“Let me be frank, we don’t care what happens to any of you. We just needed to know why she’s taken such an interest in New Orleans, and now we know.”

Both women stood up and Caroline looked back as she left the room. “I do know a temporary fix for something similar but less hellish. Make a poultice out of white muskroot, peppermint and camphor. It wont stop the infection, but it will slow it down.”

“But how do I fix her?”

“Summon the devil and ask her yourself.”

* * *

 

**The Safe House**

“What do you mean she went to see Marcel?” Klaus yelled. About twenty minutes prior, Caroline had quite literally disappeared, no one else seemed concerned and Katherine and Finn showed up.

“I mean, Blondie wanted to see, in person, Marcel’s state. It might be a little bitchy, but Caroline wants to watch him suffer by watching her suffer.” Damon answered.

“But he’ll know she’s the devil.” Klaus said, knowing his rebuttal sounded weak.

“Did you?” Bonnie answered. “When people picture the devil, they picture you or Silas or your dad. No one ever suspects a perky blonde girl.”

“Besides, its not like she’s going to knock on his door and yell ‘hi, I’m the devil.” Matt added.

“I’m blonde, but I’m not stupid.” Caroline said from the doorway.

“What did you tell him?”

“The devil modified an existing weapon, any attempt to help Sofiya recover quickly will make her worse. This is a personal matter, not business. I even told Vincent how to temporarily stop the spread.”

“Wait til they find out it only works once.” Georgie said from behind her.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Kol asked.

“Georgina Dowling. Former Armory intern, vehicular manslaughter convict, current resident of Hell.”

“She came with me to see Marcel. Georgie’s research taught us most of what we knew about Hell and the devil.”

“And those bitchy, manipulative sirens.”

Everyone from Mystic Falls tensed up. “We don’t talk about them, Georgie.”

“What did these sirens do?”

“Elijah, drop it.” Finn warned.

“What is the problem brother? If these sirens are such a concern then-“

Elijah’s justification was cut off when every window, glass and breakable item in the living room exploded. Everyone looked around for a moment, trying to piece together what happened. Caroline looked livid and was taking short, angry breaths.

“You want to know what happened, Elijah?” Caroline’s voice sounded so harsh that even Elijah, calm, cool and collected Elijah, look afraid.

“Yes.”

“One of the sirens tried to sell my daughters’ souls to the devil to gain her freedom, before I was the devil mind you. He passed on the deal and later killed them. When I took over Hell, I created a whole new, and way worse, section of Hell and stuck them there for all eternity. Destroying their souls would be far kinder than they deserve.”


	17. Chapter 17

Marcel was preparing for another ‘war council’ to start in a few minutes It had been two days since Caroline and Georgie sought him out, and Sofiya was still getting worse. The balm Caroline had mentioned worked at first, but the effect only lasted a few hours. When Vincent tried it a second time, the poultice was ineffective.

As soon as the two women left his apartment, Marcel sent people out to locate the Mikaelsons or anyone who could lead Marcel to the Mikaelsons. He hoped capturing them would lead the devil directly to him. it was also time to come clean to his inner circle about the devil. He sighed, not looking forward to that conversation.

“I know you’re all wondering why we’re here.” He started.

“Let me guess, to warn us about the devil? I never thought you were superstitious, man.” One of Marcel’s new people said. Everyone else was silent.

“I’m not being superstitious. You weren’t there. Ask anyone else here what happened the night Alistair died.”

“Fine. Josh, what happened?”

Josh launched into the story of what happened, including Diego’s arrival and departure, and the other Mikaelsons accosting him at his apartment.

“Ok, so the devil’s real. What does that have to do with us?”

“She seems to be interested in New Orleans. We need to be prepared for whatever happens next.”

“Hey, man. Sorry to interrupt, but I found something.” Vincent said walking in. He knew Marcel was having a meeting, but this information couldn’t wait. He handed a book to Marcel. “It says if you have the right ingredients and a witch to perform a spell, you can summon the devil.”

“Is it a reliable source?”

“Everything else in this book is accurate, which leads me to believe so. Unlike other rituals in this book, she has to answer.”

“Why don’t you just do it now?” Someone spat out. “Then you can find out what she wants and we can move on with our lives.”

Marcel glared at him but told Vincent to gather the ingredients.

* * *

 

**The Safe House**

The day after Caroline visited Marcel, both Salvatores, Bonnie and Matt went back to Mystic Falls. Jeremy hung around since Anna would be making an appearance soon; Alaric and the twins stayed since Caroline had unfinished business in the city and Valerie stayed just because. In addition, a few of Caroline’s ‘employees’ had come and gone from the safehouse in the last few days.

Most of the Mikaelsons were sitting around the house talking when Caroline felt a weird sensation in her chest.

“What-“

“What’s happening? What’s wrong?” Klaus said rushing over.

“I think….i think Marcel might be trying to summon me.”

“Is that even possible?” Davina asked.

“Technically, yes. But he’s not doing it right. Hold on a sec.” Caroline closed her eyes and focused. A few seconds later, she opened them. “Yeah, Vincent drew the sigil wrong. Maybe I’ll stop by anyway.” Caroline stood up and walked upstairs.

“What does that mean?”

“It means, Caroline’s gonna have a little fun and mess with their heads.” Jeremy answered.

Upstairs, Caroline placed the bone dagger into a wooden bowl. She then cut her hand to bleed into the bowl and started muttering in Aramaic.

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

“Why is nothing happening?” Josh asked after a moment.

“I….I don’t know.” Vincent answered. “I did what the book said.”

“But you didn’t do it correctly.” A voice called from upstairs. Everyone turned and saw Sofiya walk down the stairs. She appeared to be perfectly fine.

“What do you mean, Sof?” Marcel asked.

“Oh, honey. I’m not Sofiya. I’m just borrowing her face.”

“Let me guess, the devil?” Josh asked and ‘Sofiya’ nodded. “If it didn’t work, why are you here?”

“Let me be clear. That ritual is meant to summon me in person, as in my actual body. But, since you interrupted my afternoon and Sofiya is already being affected by my power, I can possess her for a little bit.”

“What did I do wrong?” Vincent asked.

“Now, why on earth would I tell you that? I’ve worked very hard to make sure none of you knock-offs know what I really look like. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got better things to do.” Sofiya’s eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed.

“Where am i?” she said once she woke up. “I…I was upstairs.”

“It’s hard to explain.” Marcel answered, wanting to get back to his meeting.

“Um. Marcel, look at her arm.” Josh said. His gaze was fixated on Sofiya.

“I know, it’s been like that for a few days.”

“No, the other one.” Josh said still not looking away. Sofiya’s wound was on her right shoulder and the curse had been slowly traveling down that arm. Now, it was spreading down both her arms and onto her torso, and seemed to be moving at a faster rate. “I think you pissed her off.”

Marcel was about to reply when one of his vampires began to cough up a black substance. “Ian, what’s wrong man?”

“She never told you, did she?” Katherine said from the doorway. “Not surprising.”

Marcel rushed over to Katherine and forced his hand into her chest. “Tell me what you know or I’ll kill you.”

"Yeah, the thing about death threats? They're not as scary when you're already dead." Katherine just sighed and pulled his hand out, throwing him across the room. “But that was rather rude. I was going to tell you anyway.” Katherine walked over to Ian and crouched down. “See, going to Hell and back does quite a number on your body. Especially when the devil wants you back.”

“Help me.” Ian groaned out.

“I can’t. But at least its not Hellfire.” Katherine said standing up.

“Wait, Ian’s dead?” Josh asked. “Like dead-dead?”

“Of course. Who do you think told the devil where to find Klaus?” Before anyone could react, Katherine was gone. A few moments later, Ian stopped coughing and slumped to the ground.

“Not to be that guy, but I think we should hold off on provoking the devil for now.” Josh said after the shock of everything Katherine said wore off. “People already know something’s up.”

“What do you mean?” Marcel asked.

“No one’s seen you in days, man. Its suspicious. The Mikaelsons are gone, for now, and until the devil finally shows up, we can’t just sit here.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“Throw another feeding party, act natural. Remind everyone that this is still your city. Mostly, act like nothing’s wrong.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Josh’s Apartment**

Josh was getting ready to head to work when he heard a knock at the door. Confused, he walked over to open it and saw someone he thought he’d never see again.

"Aiden?”

“Hey, Josh.” The werewolf said softly.

“But…. but you…”

“Died?” a female voice said from behind Aiden. Josh turned and saw an unknown blonde girl standing there. She was 18 years old at most. “That’s kinda the point.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Seriously? I’ve been screwing with your boss for a week and I made your buddy Diego disappear.”

“You’re- You’re the- the-“

“Devil? Yes, but most people call me Caroline.” The blonde moved past him into the apartment. She sat down on the sofa and looked between the pair. “Now, let’s talk about you and Aiden.”

“What about us?”

“I have a…. proposition for you. Give me what I want, and Aiden’s future looks a lot less bleak.”

“Wait. Aiden was sent to Hell? You were sent to Hell?”

Aiden nodded solemnly and Caroline rolled her eyes. “You do know he had to kill someone to trigger his werewolf gene, right? Unlike quite a few of his kind, he did it willingly. Kinda made him a shoo-in for Hell.”

“So if I help you, I get Aiden back?”

“His soul will no longer belong to me. And to answer your next question, making this deal won’t damn your soul either.”

“How do I know this isn’t a trick?”

Caroline stood up. “You don’t. You can turn me down right now. I’ll send Aiden back to Hell for all eternity and I’ll find someone else who’ll take this deal. I wonder what some of the witches be willing to agree to.” She walked over to Aiden. “Sorry lover boy, time to go home.”

“Wait! What do you want?”

Caroline smirked but Josh couldn’t see. “Information on a few things. If it pans out, I’ll release Aiden.”

“How do you know I won’t go running to Marcel?”

“Oh, I know you will. See here’s the thing, as soon as I leave this room, you’ll remember this conversation, but you won’t remember anything about me, including my name or what I look like. All you’ll be able to tell Marcel, even under compulsion is that you had a little chat with the devil. Two things will happen. Either Marcel will kill you and I'll....intervene before you can find peace and get the answers I want, or guilt over what you're making Aiden go through will eventually lead you to help me. Either way, I win.”

Josh looked at Aiden, and then back at Caroline. “What do you want to know?”

“Where in Lafayette Cemetery is Davina Claire buried?”

**Marcel’s Apartment-Later that day**

Marcel stood in the center of his penthouse, surrounded by his subjects.

“Welcome, welcome vampires of New Orleans! Now I know, it’s been sometime since we’ve had a get-together like this. Celebrating five years Mikaelson-free got me a little distracted. But no time like the present to make up for that, huh?”

Marcel gave a signal and the humans rounded up for this feeding party were ushered in. For the first half hour, things were going well. No one mentioned Marcel’s absence over the last few days and the vampires present for Alistair’s death didn’t question him. Shortly after the party started, however, something unexpected happened.

Halfway through Beyoncé’s latest hit song, the music cut out and something else began playing.

_“The devil went down to Georgia and he was looking for a soul to steal.”_ Charlie Daniels’ voice began to croon. Everyone was quiet for a moment before Marcel heard a trio of laughter.

“You gotta admit, she’s got quite the sense of humor.” Vicki said walking in. Katherine and a woman Marcel didn’t know were with her. “Sorry to interrupt, but my boss wants to talk to you.”

“We’re a little busy.”

“We don’t care.” Katherine shot back. She then turned to the crowd. “You can leave or you can die. Your choice.”

“It’s three against several dozen.” One of the vampires said. “Who the he-“

The man never got to finish. Valerie sped up behind him and tore his heart out. “At least I killed him nicely.” She said to the now angry crowd.

“Way nicer than I would have.” Kat agreed. “And way nicer than Sofiya’s gonna get.”

Marcel saw red when he heard Katherine joking about Sofiya’s fate. He sped over to Katherine and tore her heart out. For a few seconds, he smirked at finally getting the brunette to shut up. His amusement was short-lived when she stood up and sighed.

“Told you before, I’m already dead.“ she said. “Now, I suggest to tell your little friends to beat it before the boss shows up and gets mad.”

Marcel was about to respond when a few of the vampires on the edge of the crowd began to yell. Everyone turned and saw them engulfed in flames.

“Oops. Too late.”

Most of the vampires turned and fled as soon as their colleagues were ash. Marcel and his inner circle stayed.

“Were they spies for the devil too?” Marcel asked unimpressed.

“No, but when they did eventually die, their souls would have been mine anyway. And I proved my point.” Sofiya’s voice said.

“Boss, you don’t look half bad like this.”

“Thanks Kat.”

“How are you possessing her again?” Marcel asked.

“How can I put this? Everyday that this body has this injury, she gets weaker. Her body and soul get pulled further into Hell. My connection to her and control over her grows. Eventually, it will kill her on its own, or you could mercy-kill her and I’d still get her soul. But I hear you want to help her.”

“Yes, Damon Salvatore claims you can undo the magic or whatever.”

“He would know. I undid the exact same injury on him less than a year ago. Then again, I was testing out the weapon and needed a guinea pig I wasn’t too upset with losing.”

“So undo it!”

“I’m the devil! Why in the hell would I do something nice without proper motivation? And, to be clear, it makes no difference to me if this body lives or dies. Meet my price, and Sofie here goes right back to normal.”

“It’s Sofiya.”

“Doesn’t change the rules.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“Two things. One: some of your venom. Why I need it doesn’t concern you. When I get that, I’ll heal the necrosis on her non-injured arm, as a gesture of good faith.“

Marcel nodded to one of his men, and the other vampire grabbed a syringe. Marcel drew the venom out of his gums and handed the syringe to ‘Sofiya’ who in turn gave it to Vicki who sped off.   ‘Sofiya’ nodded and muttered something under her breath. The others watched in awe as her entire arm healed in second.

“The second thing?” Marcel asked knowing he probably wouldn’t like it.

“A 72-hour ceasefire. You’re going to give the Mikaelson family, the entire Mikaelson family, three days in New Orleans attack-free. They will stay out of your way and you will not order anyone to attack them. When the 72-hours is up, I will heal Sofiya completely. If you attack them during those three days, Sofiya and every vampire in this room except you will die a horrible, agonizing death which I will make you watch. If one of them dies in that three days, I will kill all of New Orleans. ”

“And when the three days are over?”

“The ceasefire is over. If they stay, they do so at their own risk.” She shrugged. “I only need them here for three days.”

“Why do you need them here? Or at all?”

“New Orleans is at the intersection of very powerful ley lines. It makes the city an ideal home for witches and the best place for Qetsiyah to perform a favor for me. As to why I need them, well, you bet on the racehorse that’s gonna win. Do we have a deal?”

“72 hours starting midnight tomorrow. One second longer and they die.”

“Understood.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot pf puzzle pieces start coming together. Names are dropped. Marcel realizes how much he didn't know was going on.

**The Safehouse**

“All right, everybody pack your stuff.” Caroline said walking down the stairs. The remaining Mystic Falls people nodded and began to comply. “That includes you guys.” She said looking at the Originals.

“What? Why?” Hayley asked.

“Because we’re leaving and you’re coming with us.”

“Where are we going?”

“Don’t worry about it. Remember that ‘bigger threat’ I need you to fight? I don’t really need you to fight it, I just need your assistance with a spell to help someone else fight it.” Caroline said.

“And if we don’t want to help you?” Hayley shot back. Everyone in the room stopped moving and it seems like the temperature dropped about fifteen degrees. Caroline took a few calculated steps towards the hybrid.

“I would think very carefully about the next sentence that comes out of your mouth.” Caroline said dangerously. “I need them alive, I do not need you. And I can make Finn’s slow death by Beast-venom bite look humanitarian.”

“Hayley, if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to.” Elijah said trying to diffuse the tension. “Other than ourselves, do we need to bring anything in particular, Miss Forbes?”

“Nope.”

Ten minutes later, everyone at the safe house except Mary was outside. They were arguing over who was driving and who went in what car.

“I’m not spending who knows how long in a car with the traitor brother or the man that killed me.” Kol said gesturing between Finn and Jeremy.

“I don’t want to spend that long in a car with you either, Kol.” Rebekah shot back.

“All of you shut up.” Alaric said getting annoyed. He turned slightly to Valerie and nodded towards them. Sighing, Valerie raised one hand and waved it. All six Mikaelson siblings, Hope and Hayley were knocked out. “Thank you.”

“What the hell was that? Why’d you do that?” Davina asked.

“We couldn’t just tell them we’re heading back to New Orleans, could we? They’ll stay asleep until Val lifts the spell at the Abattoir.” Caroline said. “We’re a little low on time.”

Caroline wanted to already have the Mikaelsons in the city before Marcel’s three-day time limit began. Hopefully, by the time the group got to the compound, Silas already had the barrier spell in place.

* * *

 

**Lafayette Cemetery**

Two people walked through the rows of crypts in the City of the Dead. Every few moments, one would stop to check the names on the tombs, looking for one in particular.

“Do you think he’ll agree?” Sloan asked Markos. “Kol?”

“I don’t know. We’ve never met. I know the boss is hoping for it though.”

“Why? I mean, I’m certainly not going to ask, but this seems like a lot of unnecessary work for one girl.”

“Because you didn’t know the devil when she was human. I did.” Vicki said from behind them.

“You did?”

“Yup. We grew up together. Anyway, she probably sees a little bit of herself in Davina and wants to help. Or, she just thinks she’s a sweet girl who didn’t deserve the afterlife she got.” Vicki said. “I found the tomb already.”

The trio quickly walked over to where Davina Claire was consecratated, and stared at the headstone for a moment.

“I know this is by no means the worst thing we’ve ever done, but it still feels wrong to me.” Sloan said.

“We don’t really have a choice.” Markos replied. “Mikaelsons or no Mikaelsons, we can’t allow that shred of Davina’s to remain on the Ancestral Plane. We don’t know where it will end up.”

Both Travellers closed their eyes and began muttering in Czech. A few seconds later, the stone cracked and they were able to retrieve the bones.

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

“Do you think she’ll keep her word?” Vincent asked Marcel. The vampire had just told him about the deal he made with the devil an hour earlier.

“I don’t know man. On the one hand, she partially healed Sofiya. On the other-“

“She’s the devil. Who likes the Original family for some reason.”

“I don’t know that 'like' is the word, 'need' would be more fitting. The last thing she said was something along the lines of ‘you back the horse that’s gonna win’. She needs them for something, who or what I don’t know.” Marcel admitted. “If she doesn’t keep her word, I can still kill the Mikaelsons and, at least I tried, you know?”

Vincent was going to reply when one of Marcel’s inner circle came running into the penthouse. “Someone’s been messing around in Layfette Cemetery.”

“It’s a graveyard, that’s not surprising. And the witches still hang out there sometimes.”

“That’s not what’s weird. One of the graves was disturbed, the bones are missing.” The vampire said. “It was Davina’s.”

“What?” Marcel yelled.

“That’s why she asked about Davina.” Josh said quietly to himself. Unfortunately, Marcel overheard him.

“Who asked you about her?”

“The devil. She came to my apartment this morning, with Aiden.”

“But Aiden’s dead, man.”

“Dead and in Hell. She said she wanted information, and if I gave it to her, she’d bring Aiden back.”

“Wait, you actually saw the devil?” Vincent asked. “In the flesh?”

“Yeah, but she….she did something to my memory, almost like compulsion. I remember what we talked about, I remember what she asked, but when I try to see her, I can’t.”

“We’ll deal with you lying to me later.” Marcel interrupted. “What did she want to know?”

“She asked where Davina was buried. I told her. She asked about the person who came looking for Klaus two years back. I told her where to find the person they talked to. She also wanted to know if anyone knew Papa Tunde’s blade was missing.”

“It’s missing? How can it be missing?” Vincent asked.

“It’s not. I left it- Shit.“

“What? Where did you leave it?”

“It’s in a safe, at the old Mikaelson compound.”

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

“You gotta admit, this is weird even for us.” Stefan said moving his flashlight around.

“Did you want to tell Caroline no?” Damon asked. “She’d let you find peace. Me, jury’s still out. Why aren’t you helping me dig?”

“Human, remember? We get tired way too easily.” Stefan joked. “Are you sure you’re digging in the right place?”

“Well, Mikael’s the only person she could ask about it, so maybe Caroline was lied to, maybe not. I have to say though, it’s a dumb move on his part either way.”

“Really?”

“Think about it: lying gets him more torture in Hell. Telling the truth only helps him if he uses the info to bargain with. She can’t ask Esther, she’s not going to ask Klaus or his siblings because they’ll ask too many questions. That leaves Mikael. “ Damon said as he dug. Eventually, the shovel hit something solid. “Jackpot.” He pulled out a bundle of cloth and opened it.

“How can we be sure that’s what we’re looking for?” Stefan asked.

“Those are them.” Sage said, having walked up while Damon and Stefan were talking. “The last time anyone saw that blanket was the day Mikael and Elijah buried it. Come on, Bonnie's in the car waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so on TVD, it's implied that Sage knew the Mikaelsons when they were human, I'm sticking with that story because it's more convenient.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Abattoir-The next evening**

The Mikaelsons all awoke with a groan. Looking around, Klaus recognized one of the pillars next to his head. He sat up in panic when he realized where he was.

“Not here. Please tell me we aren’t where I think we are.”

The others looked around when they heard the panic in his voice.

“I…. I don’t understand.” Elijah said. “She must know we shouldn’t be here.”

“You’re right. You aren’t supposed to be here for another six hours but…” Caroline began to say before trailing off. All heads towards turned her. The blonde was leaning against an old-looking church bell that was in the center of the courtyard.

“Miss Forbes, you are no doubt aware that Marcellus wants us dead.”

“I know.” Caroline said moving forward.

“Then why did you bring us here you idiot?” Rebekah asked.

The blonde leveled Rebekah with a harsh look. “Because Marcel may want to kill you, but for the next 78 hours, he can’t.” Caroline replied.

“Why not?” Kol asked.

“He and I…we made a little deal. As you know, I’m slowly killing his girlfriend. I offered to cure her in exchange for something.”

“What was that ‘something’?” Klaus asked.

“A three day ceasefire between you and him. Your family gets three days in the French Quarter without Marcel, or any of his minions, attacking you.”

“As much as I want to be optimistic about this, you cannot make Marcellus keep his end of the deal.” Elijah responded.

“Oh yes I can.” Caroline shot back. “If one of you gets attacked, I kill his inner circle. If one of you dies, I kill the entire city. So, I’d say I’ve got Marcel by the balls.”

“Why would we want to return to New Orleans?” Hayley asked.

“It’s not about what you want." Caroline replied harshly. Hayley still didn't understand that this had nothing to do with her. "Remember that thing I need you all alive for? This is part of it. Three days gives Tessa enough time to perform the spells she needs to perform. “

“Spells? As in plural?”

“Yes, plural. Do you have any idea how much of a supernatural hot spot this city is? I’d be insane not to use it.”

“And when the three days are up?” Kol asked.

“Ceasefire ends. I can’t stop Marcel from trying to kill you.” Caroline answered honestly. “Now, where is Nadia?”

“Sorry we’re late. Grave-robbing in this city is harder than you’d think.” Nadia said carrying a box into the building. “Or maybe we timed stealing the bones wrong. Anyway, we had to lay low so Marcel’s idiots couldn’t track us here.”

“Wait? Grave robbing? Who’s grave did you rob?” Rebekah asked.

“Davina’s.” Markos answered. The Mikaelsons were in shock, except Finn. Davina’s jaw dropped in confusion, Silas rolled his eyes and everyone else looked bored.

“What? Why?”

“How else are we supposed to put her soul back together, genius?” Silas asked walking down the stairs.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves here.” Caroline interrupted before Kol could ask another question. “I need everyone except Davina and Kol to go away.”

Freya, Finn, Elijah and Rebekah all gave Caroline a dubious look but complied. Hayley scoffed, grabbed Hope and went upstairs. Klaus hung around wanting to interrogate the blonde.

“Love-“

“All due respect, this isn’t your business. I’ll explain if and when it matters.” Caroline said not looking at him. He nodded and walked away.

“What do you need us for?” Kol asked.

The blonde didn’t speak for a moment, trying to find the right way to word things. “For a lot of reasons, the fraction of Davina’s soul can’t stay on the Ancestral Plane. I have two options: restore Davina’s soul and let her ‘move on’ or…not.”

“You…. you promised me you would make my soul whole again.” Davina said nearly crying.

“Love of my brother’s life or not, if you don’t let Davina be whole again, I will kill you.” Kol said threateningly.

“Ok, I worded that wrong. I can either restore it and allow her to find peace or…. I can restore it but allow her to stay here.” Caroline said trying to placate the pair. “It’s why I only wanted to talk to the two of you.”

“I…. I could stay?”

“If you want to. But, both of you would need to agree.”

“Why both of us?” Davina asked.

“Right now, your soul is anchored partially in Hell and partially with the Ancestors. Ancestral plane issues aside, Hell is eternal and indestructible. To restore it, I have to anchor it to another dimension or some powerful, semi-indestructible thing.”

“Like an Original Vampire.” Kol said, the realization dawning on him. Caroline nodded.

“If you die, so would she. Otherwise, you two could finally be together.”

“Wouldn’t that, you know, disrupt nature?” Davina asked.

“Nope. The rule is all living things die. You’ve already died so you wouldn’t violate that law.” Caroline said shrugging. “So is that a yes?”

“Of bloody course it is!”

“Good. Silas?” Caroline beckoned the witch over.

Silas began removing Davina’s bones from the box they were in and laid them out on the floor. He laid them out so they formed a circle around both the Founder’s Bell and the couple. He then grabbed a knife and handed it to Kol and Davina.

“I need both of you to bleed on each of the bones. A few drops is fine.” Kol and Davina gave him a strange look but complied. “I’ve never done this before, so I’ve got no idea if it’ll hurt or not. VICKI?”

“What?” the brunette yelled storming down the stairs.

“I need you to ring the damn bell.”

“Wait? Doesn’t that bell release Hellfire?” Davina asked warily.

“Only if it’s rung 12 times. It also cracks open the door downstairs. “ Vicki said sounding bored.

“When I finish chanting, start ringing.” Silas said, ignoring the looks he was getting from the pair.

 

* * *

 

**Marcel’s apartment**

“Any luck?” Marcel asked Vincent.

“Nope. None of my sources inside the city or outside it can locate the blade. It’s like it’s being cloaked or something.“

“Devil’s probably got a army of dead witches hiding that thing.” Marcel replied. “Any leads on what Qetsiyah’s up to?”

“None. No spell should take that long. There’s no full moon or celestial event happening in the nest three days. It’s like the devil arbitrarily picked a window for something.” Vincent admitted. He was going to say something else when a bell started to ring and he got a splitting headache. “Shit”

“What?” Marcel asked as the bell rang again.

“The bell Katherine Pierce brought. Someone’s ringing it.” Vincent said through clenched teeth.

Marcel stilled for a moment before exclaiming ‘fuck’ and speeding off. Marcel had to stop whatever idiot was about to destroy the city.

* * *

 

**The Abattoir**

Inside the compound, Freya and Hope had splitting headaches, the vampires were confused and the only sound anyone could hear other than the bell was groaning coming from downstairs. After listening to the bell ring six times, the building went silent. Without stopping to think, everyone sped downstairs to see Kol holding a shaking Davina, a series of burn marks where Davina’s bones used to be and a smug-looking Silas.

“My work here is done.” Silas said before walking off.

“What the hell was that?”

“Hell itself.” Caroline answered. They all gave her ‘could you elaborate’ looks and she sighed. “Energy from Hell or whatever summoned by the bell fused Davina’s soul back together and anchored her life force to Kol.”

Everyone began asking questions at once, so Caroline simply crossed her arms and waited for everyone to stop.

“I promised Davina I’d put her soul back together and I did. Answers to everything else you just asked can wait til tomorrow.”

* * *

 

**Outside the Abattoir**

Marcel reached the old Mikaelson compound just as the sixth ring rang out. He tried to speed into the building only to find himself unable to cross onto the property.

“Sorry about that. Boss’s orders.” A voice called from behind him. He turned and saw Qetsiyah. “I guess she didn’t like the idea of you skulking around.”

“But the bell-”

“Only rang six times. Until that number reaches double digits, its more of an annoyance.”

“Why’d she even let someone ring it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care. It can’t kill me so I literally could not give less of a shit.” Qetsiayh said shrugging. “Maybe she wants to annoy you, maybe it’s a warning. Maybe she isn’t even here.”

“Is she here?”

“Why would that matter now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caroline's getting real sick of all these Originals asking her all these questions, hence the very clear annoyance.


	21. Chapter 21

**The Abattoir-Next Day**

“You can all breathe easy,” Damon said walking into the compound. “We have arrived.”

“Your ability to follow simple instruction astounds me.” Qetsiyah said rolling her eyes. “Did you at least bring them?”

“Yup.” Damon gestured to a box that Stefan was dragging in.

“I really miss vampire strength right now,” the now-human Salvatore said.

“No moping, Stef. You actually got what you wanted.”

The Mikaelsons watched this display warily. If the last 24 hours taught them anything, it was that they had no idea what Caroline or the rest of the Mystic Falls Gang was up to. Overnight, someone had drawn a seven-pointed star in the middle of the courtyard and at least three people they didn’t know were setting jars of unknown things at each point.

Caroline came downstairs a few seconds later. “Great. Now I don’t have to spend eternity roasting your ass with hellfire.”

“Come on, Blondie, ruler of all things dark and evil, would you really do that to me?” Damon asked in his typical Damon way.

“A year ago? Oh, hell yeah. Now, I just fantasize about it.”

“I know you liked me.”

“Enough.” Qetsiyah said closing the grimoire in her hands forcefully. “Let’s get this over with so I can go back to torturing Silas.”

“You really oughta let that go.” Silas shot back.

“I still hate you, so no.” she then addressed the Mikaelsons. She pointed to the star-point closest to the entrance. “Starting here, I need you lined up oldest to youngest on the points.”

“What exactly is this?”

“The reason I broke you out of hybrid jail. The reason I helped heal you and why I resurrect you. Do as she says.” Caroline said. The blonde then wandered over to the box Damon brought and sorted through its contents, looking at an item before muttering ‘nope’ and finding another.

“You have seven points on the star but only six of us.” Kol pointed out.

“Don’t worry about that.” Qetsiyah said not looking up. She pulled a rather archaic looking knife out of her pocket and walked over to Freya holding a bowl. “Hands out, palms up.”

“What? Why?”

“This is dark magic, sweetie. It requires a lot of blood to work. You can give it to me or I can take it from you. Your choice.”

Freya glared but complied. As did the other Mikaelson siblings. Qetsiyah went back to reading her grimoire when everyone heard a loud cracking noise. They all turned towards it and saw Caroline holding a long bone, most likely a femur, that she had broken the end off of.

“What? It’s not like bones are inherently sharp. I kinda had to make do.” She handed the bone off to Silas who quickly whittled the broken end into a sharp point. He then handed the bone to Qetsiyah who threw it into the bowl. Caroline placed the other part of the bone on the final, unused point of the star.

“Ok, let’s see. Mikaelsons, check. Blood of Mikaelsons, check. Bone, check.” She then started emptying the jars into the bowl. “Werewolf venom, ash forged from hellfire.” She then looked at Caroline. “Your turn.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and took the knife from Qetsiyah, cutting her left arm from elbow to wrist and letting it bleed into the bowl.

“I didn’t need that much blood.”

“Better safe than sorry, right.” Caroline responded.

Tessa shrugged and began chanting. The wind picked up, the earth began to shake, clouds seemed to block out the sun, and she kept on chanting. No one, except Caroline and Qetsiyah, could even tell what language the latter was speaking, let alone what she was doing. After what felt like hours, the bowl ignited destroying everything in it except the broken femur.

“I guess that’s it then.” Qetsiyah said while the other Mikaelsons looked around confused.

“For now.” Caroline answered. “By my math, and a lot of other people’s, that last thing we need has to wait until after 1:07 am tomorrow.”

“That’s oddly specific.” Rebekah remarked.

“That’s magic for you.”

Based on what most of the witches in Hell were saying, early morning the next day would mark the complete destruction of the New Orleans Ancestral Plane. Once that was gone, both Hell and the ‘Other Place’ would get an influx of energy and the devil could undo some spells she didn’t agree with from a few years back.

Caroline smirked before heading back upstairs, only to find her path blocked by Klaus.

“You have some explaining to do, love.”

“You get two questions.” Caroline replied.

“Fine. One, what was that spell?”

“I told you there was a bigger threat to fight. The spell imbued the bone with enough power to kill that bigger threat.” Caroline said shrugging. “What’s your second question?”

“Whose bones are they?”

“Someone who died to get us all here.” Caroline walked away before he could ask for clarification.

* * *

 

**Marcel’s apartment**

“Anything?” Marcel asked Vincent for probably the 17th time that day.

“No, I still can’t work out why she picked these days.”

“Yeah, because your thought process is very limited.” A voice said from the doorway. Both men turned and saw Vicki standing there. “Don’t feel insulted, most of the living have the same problem.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Babysitting you. Someone has to make sure you don’t do anything stupid and get the entire city killed.”

“What do you mean, ‘my thought process is limited’?” Vincent asked.

“Exactly that. Not every problem has a rational answer. Maybe the dates are important; maybe they’re not. You don’t seem to realize this, but the devil could be doing all of this just because she can. Wouldn’t be the first time.” Vicki said matter-of-factly. “But go ahead and stress over it, that’s fun to watch.”

“Marcel, I-“ Josh said as he rushed into the apartment. He saw Vicki and wondered if he should proceed.

“Relax, dude. Whatever you’re about to say, I probably already know.”

“Ok. You know how someone came looking for Klaus a few years back? I found who they talked to.”

“And?”

“The person they talked to was Allison. It’s not good, man. Someone got there before me.”

“Allison’s dead?” Vincent asked.

“No, she’s comatose. Apparently since two days ago. She’s awake and she’s alive but she won’t respond to anything, even people trying to look into her mind.” The one thing Caroline begrudgingly admitted was useful about Sirens was their ability to shut down someone's mind. Caroline didn't need the girl dead, just out of commission while Tessa did her thing.

All three turned to Vicki looking for an explanation. “What?”

“Do you know anything about this?”

“I only know what the boss decided I need to know. Abby’s coma isn’t part of that.”

“Allison.”

“Whatever. “

Marcel’s next threat was cut off when the wind picked up, the earth began to shake and it began to get cloudy and dark outside despite being 10am. All three strange occurances lasted for about fifteen minutes before stopping abruptly.

“What the hell was that?”

“If I had to guess….Tessa just finished spell numero dos.”

“What was it?”

“I dunno.” Vicki shrugged.


End file.
